President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia warned on Wednesday that Western countries providing Ukraine with long-range missiles and allowing them to strike inside Russia was a “dangerous move” that could prompt Moscow to retaliate against Western targets.
“If anyone thinks it is possible to transport such weapons to the war zone to attack our territory and cause us trouble,” Putin said at a military meeting. Press ConferenceSo why don’t we have the right to deliver similar weapons to parts of the world where they could strike sensitive facilities in countries that are taking such actions against Russia?”
Putin singled out Germany, saying that Germany's provision of main battle tanks to Ukraine dealt an initial blow to Russian-German relations, but that Germany's allowing Russia to use missiles was more serious.
“Now, when they say there will be some missile strikes on Russian territorial targets, this of course will ultimately damage Russian-German relations,” he said.
Putin spoke with senior editors from at least 15 global news organizations who were invited to meet with him during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Putin has not participated in this tradition since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but this year, the invitation was extended to Western media such as the Associated Press and Reuters, as well as several European agencies such as AFP, Germany's Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Italy's ANSA and Spain's EFE.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that representatives of “unfriendly countries” were invited because it was “very important for them to get to know Putin and Russia directly,” according to Russia's official TASS news agency.
Western business executives mostly shunned the forum, while Chinese companies attended in large numbers, including showing off a bulletproof luxury sedan that sells for more than $560,000 in China, TASS reported.
Putin answered a wide range of questions, but many focused on the war in Ukraine, a war that he again blamed on Ukraine and its Western allies, even though Russia invaded the country in 2014 after it began destabilizing eastern Ukraine by backing separatists.
He said countries that supplied weapons to Ukraine risked being drawn into a war with Russia.
It is unclear where else Putin might plan to deploy Russian weapons. Russia stationed troops and weapons, possibly including nuclear missiles, in Belarus during the war. Belarus borders Europe closer than Russia does, as does Kaliningrad, Russia’s Baltic exclave. Russia also has troops in Syria, close to bases where the United States is stationed.
Speaking about relations with Washington, Putin said he did not think much would change in the upcoming presidential election as long as the United States continued its pursuit of “greatness.”
Asked about the recent conviction of former President Donald J. Trump, Putin said the U.S. is being screwed from within. “It is clear to the whole world that the prosecution of Trump, especially in court, based on events that happened many years ago, on charges without direct evidence, is just using the judicial system for internal political struggles,” he said.
Topic Evan GershkovichPutin said the United States was taking “strong steps” to secure the release of Gershkovic, a Wall Street Journal reporter who has been held in Russia for more than a year on espionage charges. Gershkovic, the Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have denied the charges.
Putin added that “such issues can only be resolved on the basis of mutual benefit.” He also said that “the relevant departments of the United States and Russia are communicating on this issue.”
Milana Mazaeva Contributed reporting.
