Vladimir Putin has hinted once again at intense Russian retaliation if Ukraine’s allies offer up long-range missiles to Kyiv.
As the war approaches its third year, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly asked the West to provide such weapons to strike beyond Russian borders.
But Kyiv’s allies have stalled over fears it could bring them into direct conflict with Moscow and doubts over just how much difference the weapons would make.
Putin doubled down on these threats once again over the weekend.
According to POLITICO, the president told Russian state TV that his defence ministry “is thinking about how to respond to the possible long-range strikes on Russian territory”.
He added: “It will offer a range of responses.”
According to Russian state news agency TASS, he also said he hoped the West had heard his warnings about what will happen if they go ahead with Zelenskyy’s request for long-range missiles.
“They have not reported anything to me, but I hope that they heard, since we will surely have to take some decisions for ourselves as well,” he said.
Putin already warned in September that a strike within Russian borders would bring the country into direct conflict with NATO.
He claims only NATO would be able to fire such weapons into Russia without Western satellite data to target the weapons.
So, according to Putin, it all comes down to “whether they will allow themselves to strike deep into Russian territory or not. That is the question.”
Russian officials have also warned that the war is now entering its most dangerous phase, after more than two and a half years of bloody conflict, because of the question mark over these long-range missiles.
The pressure is mounting on Ukraine, especially as Russia is advancing at the fastest rate in eastern Ukraine since the first few months of the war.
Despite his threatening rhetoric, Putin also used last week’s BRICS summit to claim that he would be happy to reopen dialogue with European countries.
“We have never refused to do so, nor are we refusing now. If some wish to resume relations with us, they are welcome. We keep saying so all the time. But we are not being obtrusive,” he said.
Meanwhile, the president is facing his own accusations of escalation as the West believes Russia is recruiting troops from North Korea to fight in the war.
While Moscow initially denied such claims, the Russian president commented on the likelihood of recruiting North Korean soldiers for the first time on Friday – and suggested it was no-one else’s business.
He said: “This is our sovereign decision. Whether we use it or not, where, how, or whether we engage in exercises, training, or transfer some experience. It’s our business.”