We will “think” about providing weapons to strike the West

Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that Russia could provide long-range weapons to other countries to strike Western targets in response to NATO allies allowing Ukraine to use their weapons to attack Russian territory. He also reaffirmed that Moscow was ready to resort to nuclear weapons if it saw a threat to its sovereignty, the AP reports. The West's recent actions will further undermine international security and could lead to “very serious problems”, Putin said while answering questions from international journalists – something that has become extremely rare since Moscow sent troops in Ukraine. He spoke with senior officials from international news agencies for more than three hours.

The West's actions “would mark their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act in the same way,” Putin added.

• The United States and Germany recently authorized Ukraine to strike certain targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons they supply to kyiv. On Wednesday, a Western official and a U.S. senator said Ukraine used U.S. weapons to strike in Russia, consistent with guidelines recently approved by President Biden that allow the use of U.S. weapons for the limited purpose of defending Kharkiv , the second largest city in Ukraine. The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive issue and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. Republican Senator Mike Rounds confirmed the strikes but did not say how he was informed. Guardian reports.
• Putin claimed that the use of some weapons supplied by the West implies that military personnel from those countries control the missiles and select targets, and he therefore said that Moscow could take “asymmetric” measures elsewhere in the world. The US military has said it does not control the missiles it supplies to Ukraine or the targets.

• “If they consider it possible to deliver such weapons to the combat zone to launch strikes on our territory and create problems for us, why do we not have the right to supply weapons of the same type in certain regions of the world where they can be used to launch strikes on sensitive installations of countries that do so in Russia? Putin said. “We will think about it,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the annual International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.
• Asked whether Russia could resort to nuclear weapons, Putin replied that the conditions for using this arsenal are clearly set out in Moscow's security doctrine. “For some reason the West believes that Russia will never use it,” he said.
• Putin also said that nothing would change in terms of Russian-US relations whether Biden or Donald Trump wins the US presidential election in November. “We will work with any president elected by the American people,” Putin said. He also said Trump's felony conviction in his secret trial last week was the result of “using the justice system for internal political struggle.” He said the affair had “burned” the idea that the United States was a leading democracy, the Guardian reports.
• Asked by the AP about the case of Wall Street Journal According to journalist Evan Gershkovich, Putin said the United States was “taking strong steps” to secure his release.

(More stories from Vladimir Putin.)