Photo: Ramil Sitdikov Sputnik/Agence France-Presse President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday threatened “serious consequences” if Western weapons were used against Russian territory.
France Media Agency in Moscow
Posted at 9:56 a.m. Updated at 8:14 p.m.
- Europe
President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday threatened “serious consequences” in the event of the use of Western weapons against Russian territory, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron for his part advocating “neutralizing” the bases in Russia from which missiles are fired at Ukraine.
The United States, however, reiterated its opposition to the use of American weapons to strike the territory Russian.
“In Europe, especially in smaller countries, they need to think about what they are playing with. They must remember that they are often states with a small territory and a very dense population,” warned Mr. Putin during a press briefing in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
“This factor is a serious thing that they must have in mind before talking about striking deep into Russian territory,” he continued. “This permanent escalation can have serious consequences.”
Ukraine demands to be able to use weapons delivered by the West against military targets on Russian soil but the subject divides its support.
Among the most reluctant of them, Italy and Germany highlight the risk of a runaway, with the underlying fear of the use of nuclear weapons by Russia.
And this, while for NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the current restrictions “tie the hands behind the backs of the Ukrainians”.
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For Mr. Macron, who spoke on Tuesday in Germany alongside Chancellor Olaf Scholz, “we must allow them (the Ukrainians, Editor’s note) to neutralize the military sites from which the missiles are fired […], the military sites since which Ukraine is being attacked.”
“If we tell them: “you do not have the right to reach the point from which the missiles are fired” , in fact, we tell them: “we are delivering weapons to you but you cannot defend yourself,” added the French head of state.
« But we must not allow other targets in Russia and obviously civilian capabilities to be hit,” he clarified.
“A global conflict”
According to Vladimir Putin, in this scenario it would be an escalation because even if it is the Ukrainian military who carry out the strikes, they would be “prepared” by the Westerners who supply them with the weapons.
“The task is not prepared by the Ukrainian army but by the representatives of NATO countries,” he insisted, further reproaching the West for wanting “a global conflict”.
In Washington, a White House spokesperson once again expressed American reluctance on the matter.
« Our position has not changed at this stage. We neither encourage nor permit the use of U.S.-supplied weapons to strike on Russian soil,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
Another red line for Moscow which is the subject of intense discussions among Kiev's allies: the sending of military instructors to Ukrainian soil to help the Ukrainian army.
If some countries, like France, are considering it and discussing it with Ukraine, others are more circumspect.
In Brussels, following a meeting of EU defense ministers, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell confirmed that a debate was underway on this possibility but that there was no had “at the moment no clear common position on this subject”.
Ukraine announced Monday that French instructors were going to visit its soil “soon” in order to to train Ukrainian troops, before saying he was still “in discussions with France and other countries on this issue.”
Questioned on the subject on Tuesday, the president Russian Vladimir Putin assured that these instructors were “already” on Ukrainian territory, “under the guise of mercenaries”.
Some 50,000 Ukrainian soldiers were trained thanks to to an EU-funded program and 10,000 more could be added before the end of the year, Borrell noted.
Photo: Simon Wohlfahrt Agence France-Presse Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (left) and Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder (right) pose in front of an F-16 with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday at Melsbroek military airport.
The world must not “get tired”
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, visiting in Brussels, urged his American counterpart Joe Biden to participate in the international summit on Ukraine scheduled in Switzerland for June 15 and 16, without Russian presence.
“His absence would be like applauding Putin,” he judged, Washington having not confirmed the presence of Mr. Biden at this meeting to which some 90 countries responded.
On the occasion of this short visit to Brussels, timed between a trip to Madrid on Monday and another to Lisbon on Tuesday afternoon, MM. Zelensky and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo signed a cooperation agreement including the supply by Belgium of 30 F-16 aircraft by 2028.
The leader of the Ukrainian state specified that this “long-term” military assistance included aid from Belgium in arms, ammunition and armored vehicles amounting to 977 million euros in 2024 alone.
The Belgian government, which is still waiting to take possession of the F-35s ordered to gradually replace its aging fleet of F-16s, has said for its part it hopes for a first delivery to kyiv “if possible before the end of the year”.
M. Zelensky then traveled to Portugal, where he signed a bilateral cooperation agreement providing for military aid for the year 2024 amounting to 126 million euros.
From Lisbon, he warned the international community that it was “very important for the Ukrainians that the world does not tire” of this war which has continued for more than two years at the gates of the European Union.