Putin threatens NATO to start a war if Ukraine uses its long-range missiles on Russian soil

The confrontation between Russia and NATO may reach a new level in the scale of tension between the two blocs since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Atlantic Alliance countries that if they lift their veto on long-range weapons to allow Ukraine to attack Russian territory, it will mean that NATO countries will be directly involved and thus Russia would enter an all-out war. 

‘NATO countries not only discussed the possibility of Kiev using Western long-range weapons, but also decided whether to participate directly in the conflict in Ukraine or not,’ he stressed. ‘We will make appropriate decisions depending on the threats we face,’ the Russian president told the TASS news agency. 

In view of this situation, Putin has repeatedly reiterated that the nature of the conflict could change at any moment, if the veto on Ukraine is finally lifted. NATO fears that it was the recent Ukrainian drone strikes on residential buildings in Moscow that prompted Putin to make such a harsh statement. 

In addition, the Russian leader pointed out that military aid packages provided by NATO to Ukraine ‘can only be used by troops from NATO countries’ and that ‘Ukraine cannot attack Russian territory’. He further clarified that it is only with the help of EU and US satellites that Ukraine has been able to successfully carry out attacks on Russian soil. 

These declarations follow statements by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who assured that the decision to allow Kiev to use this weapon ‘was taken a long time ago and now they are only trying to formalise it in the public arena’. 

Meanwhile, in Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky praised the ‘firm and strong support’ of key partners during a joint meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. 

During the meeting Zelensky confirmed that he will seek permission as soon as possible to attack Russian soil, ignoring Putin's threats, something he has been asking NATO to do for the past few months of the conflict. Indeed, Rustem Umerov, the Ukrainian defence minister, confirmed that Russian airfields, which they use to attack on Ukrainian soil, would be within range of long-range missiles. 

Antony Blinken assured that the United States has been adapting to the changes and needs of the conflict and warned that it will continue to do so in the future. At the same time, he reiterated that the United States provides intelligence data to Ukraine and that if anyone is escalating the conflict, it is Putin with his declarations of war. In the same vein, William Courtney, former US ambassador and adjunct fellow at the RAND Corporation, said that ATACMS missiles ‘could reach any target and beyond’.