President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would enter a “state of war” if the United States and its allies lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western long-range weapons.
Putin’s vow to respond to such moves with “appropriate decisions” was his latest and perhaps most drastic attempt to draw a line at NATO allies’ support for Kiev, and came on the eve of a meeting in Washington where the issue is expected to rise to the top of the agenda.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday afternoon amid a standoff between London and Moscow over the expulsion of six diplomats on espionage charges, which the British side dismissed as “baseless.”
Before the meeting began, Biden said the US was “committed” to working with Britain to support Ukraine against Russia.
“I have said many times before that there is no global problem that the United States and the United Kingdom cannot work together on,” Biden said. “It’s clear to me that President Putin will not win this war. The Ukrainian people will win.”
Asked about Putin’s comments about the possibility of direct war with Russia, Biden told reporters, “I haven’t thought much about Vladimir Putin.”
According to a summary of the meeting released by the White House, the two leaders “reaffirmed our unwavering support for Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against Russian aggression” and shared “deep concerns about Iran and North Korea’s provision of lethal weapons to Russia.”
The United States and its allies appear increasingly willing to allow Ukraine to use Western long-range missiles to strike deep into Russia, the culmination of months of pressure from Kiev and infuriating the Kremlin.
“We are not talking about whether or not to allow the Ukrainian regime to attack Russia with these weapons,” Putin said in comments to propagandist Pavel Zarubin on Thursday. “We are talking about NATO countries deciding whether or not to get directly involved in a military conflict.”
“This means that NATO countries, the United States and European countries are at war with Russia,” Putin said. “If this is the case, we will take appropriate decisions based on the threats posed to us, bearing in mind the changing nature of this conflict.”
Putin added that the Ukrainian military does not have a long-range missile program or the ability to acquire the satellite data needed to target them, and relies on NATO personnel for those tasks.
Putin’s comments were echoed by Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin in a Telegram post on Friday. “NATO has taken part in military operations in Ukraine,” Volodin wrote. “They are waging war against our country.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told reporters on Friday that Putin’s message was “very clear, unambiguous and leaves no room for double interpretation.”
“There is no doubt that the document reached its intended recipient,” Peskov noted.
The Kremlin and Russian propaganda have portrayed the Ukraine war as a clash with the West and NATO since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, and Putin’s latest threatening rhetoric appears to be an escalation of that strategy at a critical moment.
Putin had suggested in June that he might provide weapons to other countries to attack Western targets, but it was unclear what Moscow’s implied response would be.
Putin has repeatedly warned Western countries not to cross Moscow’s so-called red lines, which he said could spark nuclear war, but the lines have been crossed repeatedly without response from the Kremlin.
Ukrainian forces launched their first incursion into Russian territory since World War II last month, prompting a relatively muted Russian response.
More than a month later, the Kremlin on Thursday announced it had launched a major counteroffensive to retake some of the seized ground in the Kursk border region, while its forces continue their offensive in eastern Ukraine, threatening the strategic hub city of Pokrovsk.
As things stand, Kiev is only permitted to use Western-supplied long-range weapons, such as the US’s ATACMS and the UK’s Storm Shadow, to attack Russian territory along its borders, and only in response to attacks from those areas.
Russia has called for a change in policy to allow it to strike military assets deeper inside Russian territory that could be used to attack Ukrainian cities.
But Washington and its allies have been reluctant to allow this, fearing a major escalation.
That appears to have changed in recent weeks.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv on Wednesday along with his British counterpart, and President Biden suggested earlier this week that the US was “resolving” the matter.
Members of the bipartisan Congressional Ukraine Caucus signed a letter earlier this week urging President Biden to lift restrictions on Kyiv’s use of long-range weapons, saying they are “inconsistent” with what the U.S. would accept for its own operations and with restrictions the U.S. places on other allies, such as Israel.
Ahead of the meeting with Biden, Downing Street told NBC News that Starmer told reporters that the UK does not want any conflict with Russia, but he noted that “Russia started this conflict. Russia invaded Ukraine illegally. Russia can end this conflict immediately.”
As he arrived in Washington, Russia’s FSB internal security service announced it had revoked the credentials of six British diplomats in Moscow, citing signs of “spying and sabotage” their behavior.
The UK has denied the accusations as “completely without basis”.
