Russia’s foreign minister says the longer the range of Kiev’s missiles, the further Moscow will push hostile forces back
Russia has responded to Western powers’ planned delivery of long-range missile systems to Ukraine, by pledging to expand Moscow’s list of military targets.
“The longer the range of the missiles being delivered to the Kiev regime, the farther we will push the Nazis away from the line where there is a threat to the Russian population in both Ukraine and Russia,”Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Russia said this during Monday’s press conference.
The diplomat added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s promises not to use American rockets to strike Russian territory are “babble”It is not possible to take this seriously considering the fact that lawmakers and politicians in Ukraine also aren’t taken seriously. “simply laughing at the Americans who said that they believe Zelensky.”
US officials announced last week they were providing Kiev with M142 HIMARS satellite rocket systems. However, this was only subject to the conditions that the missiles would not be used against Russian territory. Zelensky publicly accepted those terms, however several Ukrainian politicians, as well as the newly appointed US ambassador to Kiev, later contradicted the president’s pledge, stating that Ukrainian soldiers were free to choose their targets, including those in Crimea.
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UK supplies long-range missiles for Ukraine
UK intends to ship several M270 multiple-launch rocket systems made in the USA to Kiev. British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has announced this move. BBC reported that those systems will be subject to similar target restrictions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded to the upcoming deliveries by saying Western-supplied rocket systems are unlikely to tip the balance in Ukraine’s favor, calling them “nothing new.”He warned Kiev, however, that Russia would strike if Kiev receives longer-range missiles. “targets that we have not yet struck.”
The Russian president reiterated Moscow’s long-standing position that Western arms shipments to Ukraine only serve to prolong the conflict.
Russia attacked Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. French and German-brokered protocols were intended to grant the regions that broke away special status in the Ukrainian state.
Since then, the Kremlin demanded Ukraine declare itself neutral and vow to never join NATO’s military bloc. Kiev claims that the Russian invasion was unprovoked. It also denies any plans to take the republics with force.