Russian President Vladimir Putin sees a possible Ukrainian use of long-range Western precision weapons against targets deep on Russian territory as NATO’s involvement in the war. “This will mean that NATO countries, the USA, and European countries will fight with Russia,” the Kremlin chief said in response to a question from a journalist on state television in St. Petersburg.
Putin went on to say that this would change the nature of the war. “We will make appropriate decisions based on the threats we will face,” he said, without giving details.
Western-backed Ukraine has long been demanding that the US and Britain allow the deployment of long-range missiles in Russia’s hinterland. Its stated aim is to disrupt Russian logistics and attack air force airfields far behind the Russian-Ukrainian border.
According to official statements, the USA is limiting the use of its weapons against Russia to the defense of the Russian offensive against the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. The British government has not yet commented specifically on the question of what exactly it is allowing Ukraine to do with the weapons it has made available.
Putin: Ukraine cannot carry out such strikes without help
Putin based his conclusions on the fact that the Ukrainian army was not capable of carrying out such strikes without outside help. “This is only possible with reconnaissance data from satellites of either the European Union or the United States, that is, from NATO satellites,” he said. Ukraine does not have such reconnaissance equipment.
In addition, according to Putin, only NATO soldiers are capable of such operations. Therefore, the question is not whether Kiev will be allowed to use these weapons or not. “It is about whether a decision is made that NATO countries will participate directly in the military conflict or not,” Putin said.
As far as is known, the Ukrainian military only has Western missiles and cruise missiles with a maximum range of 300 kilometers. According to US information, the Russian Air Force has already stationed its aircraft outside the range of these weapons. A meeting between US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected in Washington on Friday to discuss the release of weapons.
British Prime Minister: We don’t want conflict with Russia
The British Prime Minister, meanwhile, rejected Putin’s claim that releasing long-range weapons for attacks in the Russian hinterland would be tantamount to NATO’s involvement in the war. Britain does not want a conflict with Russia, said Starmer on the way to Washington. “Ukraine has a right to self-defence,” said Britain fully supports this right and offers training opportunities in this context. “But we are not looking for a conflict with Russia – that is not our intention in the slightest,” stressed the British Prime Minister.
“I want to make sure tomorrow that these discussions, the tactical discussions, are put into the right strategic context of the situation in Ukraine,” Starmer said.
Washington signals adjustment of military support
Meanwhile, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the United States is prepared to adjust military support for Ukraine as needed. Blinken was asked at a press conference in Warsaw whether the Americans had now given Ukraine the green light to attack targets inside Russia with Western weapons. He replied: “I can tell you that we will continue to do exactly what we have been doing so far: We will readjust, we will adapt if necessary, including with regard to the means available to Ukraine.”
His Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski called on the Western allies to “lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons”.
Selenskyj confirms Russian counteroffensive in Kursk
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed reports that Russian troops have begun counterattacks in the Kursk border region. “Everything is going according to our Ukrainian plan,” he assured at a press conference with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in Kiev. According to reports from Russia, almost a dozen places in the Russian territory have been recaptured. At the same time, Ukrainian units have tried to gain ground.
At the beginning of August, Ukrainian troops advanced into Russian territory and, according to their own statements, within a very short time brought a good 1,300 square kilometers and about 100 villages, including the small town of Sudzha, under their control.
Nauseda, for his part, promised the Ukrainians that they would be able to purchase additional short-range air defense systems. His country would also invest ten million euros in the production of the recently introduced long-range Ukrainian drone “Palyanytsia”.
Russian missile damages wheat freighter in the Black Sea
The Ukrainian Navy reported new details about a suspected Russian air attack on a civilian freighter in the Black Sea. According to the report, a Tu-22 bomber probably fired a Ch-22 anti-ship missile at the ship. The cargo ship, flying the flag of the Caribbean state of St. Kitts and Nevis, was already outside Ukrainian territorial waters. It was on its way to Egypt from the southern Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk with a cargo of wheat.
According to a BBC report, the freighter was in Romania’s exclusive economic zone. According to the report, no Ch-22 missile was used, but rather a Ch-31 missile used to combat radar, which has a much lower explosive power than the Ch-22 cruise missiles developed to combat aircraft carriers.
President Zelensky had previously published pictures of the damage to the ship. There were no casualties. According to media reports, international wheat prices immediately rose after the news of the attack. Ukraine is one of the most important wheat exporters in the world.
Ukraine presents Mongolia with protest note
After Putin’s visit to Mongolia last week, Ukraine sent the country a protest note. It expressed Ukraine’s “deep disappointment” over Mongolia’s refusal to implement the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against Putin, Kyiv said. These actions will not go unanswered. This concerns, above all, the Ukrainian position in supporting Mongolia at the international level.
In 2023, the ICC in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president and the children’s commissioner Maria Lwova-Belowa. They are said to be responsible for the abduction of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children and young people from the Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine. Mongolia is a state party to the International Criminal Court and was therefore obliged to arrest the Russian president.
Over two and a half years ago, Russia invaded Ukraine and claims more than a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
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