A Russian diplomat has issued a bleak warning to the West after the UK and the US hinted that they could allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles.
Allies have yet not supplied Kyiv’s forces with such weapons out of fear that Moscow would perceive it as an escalation, and the regional conflict would spiral into a war with Nato, or go nuclear.
However, US secretary of state Antony Blinken claims Iran has now sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia – although Tehran denies doing so – suggesting Moscow was already taking the fight to another level.
While the West has not yet publicly changed its stance on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow is ready to retaliate.
According to Russian state news agency TASS, he said: “This is just another potential escalation move by Washington.
“The US has total control over Kyiv, which cannot make any decision without the approval or support of the US and other Western allies.”
He claimed: “It is alarming, dangerous, and threatening.
“However ,our determination to achieve all of the goals of the special military operation is stronger than ever.”
He then suggested that Russia is still confident “the adversaries on the battlefield will be defeated, and that no enemy objectives will be accomplished”.
The diplomat claimed the US “live in a world of self-made dark dreams, haunted by phantoms, one of which is the belief that it’s possible to defeat a nuclear power like Russia on the battlefield”.
He concluded: “This could end very badly or them and for anyone who ignores this harsh reality.”
Blinken and his UK counterpart David Lammy arrived in Ukraine today for meetings with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The UK revealed it was giving more than £600m in funding and weaponry to Ukraine to help it fight back against Russia.
The UK and the US have also announced co-ordinated sanctions against Russia and Iran this week, while the UK, France and Germany issued a joint statement and cancelled bilateral arrangements with Iran.
But Russia does not quite seem to have caught up with what the UK calls its “unwavering” support for Ukraine,
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed on Wednesday that London should consider dropping sanctions against Moscow.
According to TASS, she said: “it is time for Britain to admit “their sanctions policy against Russia has ended in a complete failure for London.”
She claimed the sanctions have been “inefficient, counter-productive for those that come up with them and imposes them on Russia.”
The UK currently has sanctions against almost 2,000 Russias, including government officials, and more than 300 companies.