Russia warns American leaders against ‘fatal’ miscalculations in Ukraine

Russia has issued a new warning to US leaders against making "fatal" miscalculations in the Ukraine war.

President Joe Biden of the United States gave Kiev permission on Thursday to fire long-range missiles supplied by the Americans to strike targets inside Russia.

Germany quickly followed suite, granting Kiev the green light to use German-supplied long-range missiles against Russian targets.

Britain and France had already signaled that they were okay with Ukraine striking targets inside Russia.

The United States could face “fatal consequences” if it ignored Moscow’s warnings not to let Ukraine use weapons provided by Washington to strike targets inside Russia, warned Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Monday.

“I would like to warn American leaders against miscalculations that could have fatal consequences. For unknown reasons, they underestimate the seriousness of the rebuff they may receive,” state news agency RIA quoted Ryabkov as saying.

The senior diplomat quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin's warning last week to NATO countries to stop playing with fire, one of many warnings against escalating the Ukraine war into a global conflict.

Putin warns West not to let Ukraine use its missiles to hit Russia

Putin has warned of a global conflict if Western countries allow Ukraine to use their weapons to strike targets in Russia.

“I urge these figures [in the US] ... to spend some of their time, which they apparently spend on some kind of video games, judging by the lightness of their approach, on studying what was said in detail by Putin,” Ryabkov said.

Putin had delivered “a very significant warning and it must be taken with the utmost seriousness,” Ryabkov noted.

The Russian leader, he said, had warned the West it would be directly involved in any use of its weapons by Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia, because such attacks would require its satellite, intelligence and military forces' direct involvement.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last week that NATO had the right to help Ukraine uphold its own right to self-defense, and this did not make NATO a party to the conflict.

NATO debating whether to let Ukraine strike inside Russia as Kiev begging for long-range missiles

NATO is haunted by the question whether to let Ukraine strike inside Russia with Western-donated arms.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Biden over the weekend for allowing the Kiev forces to use US-supplied weapons and munitions to target sites inside Russia. He, however, griped about how this was not enough.

The Ukrainian comedian actor-turned-politician has long complained to Biden that restrictions laid on Ukraine by the Western countries supplying arms on how Kiev can use the weapons is bad for Kiev forces’ capability because it is limiting Ukrainians in using the weapons at their discretion and choosing their own targets, killing their spontaneity in fighting against Russian troops.

Ryabkov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying efforts by Kiev to strike Russia’s early-warning radar systems would be thwarted and Moscow may respond asymmetrically to such attacks.

Last week, a Ukrainian intelligence source revealed Kiev forces had targeted a long-range radar site deep inside Russia that was part of Russian early-warning system to detect whether it is under nuclear attack.

Also, the TASS news agency cited the Russian foreign ministry as saying the debate about permitting Ukraine to use the Patriot air defense system over Russian territory indicated that the West wanted the Ukraine conflict to escalate.

Russia forces will take all measures to thwart such threats, it said.

In February 2022, Moscow launched its special military operation in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region to stop NATO’s eastward expansion after warning that the US-led military alliance was pursuing an “aggressive line” against Russia.

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