Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a press conference in Tashkent, Uzbekistan May 28, 2024. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a stark warning to the West on Tuesday, cautioning that NATO members in Europe were courting disaster by suggesting that Ukraine should be permitted to use Western weaponry to strike targets within Russia. He suggested that such actions could precipitate a global conflict.
More than two years into the most lethal land war in Europe since World War II, as the West deliberates on responses to Russian military advances, Putin has increasingly highlighted the risk of a global war, while Western leaders have tended to downplay such concerns. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in an interview with the Economist, suggested that alliance members should allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory using Western weapons. This position is supported by some European members of the transatlantic alliance but not by the United States.
Russian forces have advanced into Ukraine’s Kharkiv province, secure in the knowledge that Ukraine is unable to attack missile launchers located deep inside Russia, as it lacks Western missiles with the necessary range. Concurrently, Western-made air defenses are unable to intercept Russian rockets until they cross the Ukrainian border, approximately 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.
“Constant escalation can lead to serious consequences,” Putin warned reporters in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. “If these serious consequences occur in Europe, how will the United States behave, bearing in mind our parity in the field of strategic weapons? It’s hard to say—do they want a global conflict?”
Putin asserted that Ukrainian strikes using long-range weapons would necessitate Western satellite, intelligence, and military support, thereby directly involving the West in such attacks. He further stated that the deployment of French troops to Ukraine would be a step towards global conflict, and cautioned smaller countries considering deeper involvement to be mindful of their limited land areas and dense populations. “This is a factor that they should keep in mind before talking about striking deep into Russian territory. This is a serious thing, and we are of course watching it very closely,” Putin remarked.
The Russian advances have triggered a debate in the West. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has led to the most severe deterioration in relations with the West in 60 years. The invasion has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians, displaced millions abroad, and left neighborhoods and entire cities in ruins.
Putin frames the war as part of a broader struggle with the West, which he claims is using Ukraine to encroach on what he considers Moscow’s sphere of influence. Conversely, the West and Ukraine describe the conflict as a straightforward territorial conquest, with Russia now controlling 18% of Ukraine. Diplomats indicate that the crisis is now entering its most perilous phase.
Russian officials have expressed frustration over Ukrainian attacks on Russian cities, oil refineries, and elements of its nuclear early-warning system. Putin stated that Kyiv and its Western supporters had provoked Russia’s offensive in the Kharkiv region by disregarding repeated warnings against allowing Ukraine to attack the neighboring Russian region of Belgorod.
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