© Sputnik / Aleksander KazakovFILE: Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow, May 30, 2023.
Speaking to international journalists in St. Petersburg, Putin said the new firing agreement between Kyiv and major NATO members indicated the alliance's "direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation."
He added that Moscow reserved "the right to act the same way."
"If they consider it possible to supply such weapons to the combat zone to launch strikes on our territory and create problems for us, why don't we have the right to supply weapons of the same class to some regions of the world where they can be used to launch strikes on sensitive facilities of the countries that do it to Russia?" he said.
Putin said this response could be "asymmetric" but didn't say which organizations or governments could receive such weapons from the Kremlin.
He claimed without evidence that Western nations supplying long-range arms to Ukraine were also deploying personnel to direct and aim munitions fired by said weapons. The US has said it doesn't keep track of specific targets hit by Ukraine.
Comment: Russia likely has 'direct' evidence - it has already provided the names of the dead mercenaries, which include 'former' military officials - and it likely has solid intel in the form of communications, similar to the recordings of the top German officials scheming to blow up the Crimean bridge. Furthermore, it's clear even to Western analysts that Ukraine does not have the capabilities to operate and target certain weapons and locations without 'outside' assistance.
Footage:
"We're just not in a position on a day-to-day basis of knowing exactly what the Ukrainians are firing at what," the White House national-security spokesman, John Kirby, said on Wednesday. "It's certainly at a tactical level."
Putin's comments came just days after Washington and Berlin reversed their long-standing policies and allowed Kyiv to launch strikes with American and German weapons. Other major allies supplying Ukraine, including the UK and France, had already authorized such strikes.
But President Joe Biden has only permitted Ukraine to fire on military targets in Russian regions bordering the northeastern region of Kharkiv.
Russian forces early last month launched a renewed assault on Kharkiv, and Ukraine has said it knew the Kremlin was massing gear and troops in nearby Belgorod but couldn't do anything about it because of targeting restrictions.
Comment: It seems that the West's maniacal escalation serves a number purposes, one of which is in response to Russia's 'renewed assault' which promises to finish the Kiev-junta as we know it.
Apart from the area restrictions, the US has also prohibited Ukraine from launching ATACMS missiles on Russian soil.
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Europe and the US have supplied more than 95% of all military aid to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The US sent Ukraine about $47 billion in military aid between February 2022 and February 2024, per the Kiel Institute.
A new package initially delayed by Congress this year contained about $25 billion more in equipment and another $17 billion in other funding for other military purposes, according to a tally by the Center for Strategic & International Studies.
Comment: It seems likely that Russia is already covertly supplying its main allies with high tech equipment, however, it's possible that this cooperate could extend further, alongside permission for them to be deployed.
What was quite notable from NATO's recent announcement of a military build up of US troops against Russia on European soil is how any fallout affecting US assets went unmentioned, and any threat to the UK was almost an afterthought, however, it seems that this recent announcement is hinting that if Russia's existence is threatened in this way, no nation supplying the Kiev-juna Nazis should be considered off-limits: