During a news conference on Wednesday, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin issued a stern caution against the Western countries fuelling Ukraine with long-range missiles and permitting their use to target Russian territories, labelling this act as perilous and potentially provoking retaliatory actions against Western targets. Putin raised questions regarding Russia’s entitlement to provide the same kind of weaponry to regions that could potentially attack sensitive facilities of countries rivalling Russia.
Highlighting the German contribution of battle tanks to Ukraine as the preliminary damage to Russo-German relations, Putin particularly criticised Germany for its approval of missile usage in Russia. The permission for missiles targeting Russian territories is a further deterioration of ties between two countries, Putin claimed. His remarks were addressed to editorial chiefs from around 15 global news agencies whom he met during the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin had refrained from this tradition, however, this year, the invitations were dispatched to Western publications including the Associated Press, Reuters and several European outlets, such as Agence France-Press, Italy’s ANSA, Germany’s DPA, and Spain’s EFE. Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, asserted the necessity for representatives of “hostile nations” to familiarise themselves with Putin and gain first-hand insights about Russia as reported by Russia’s official news agency, Tass.
Putin entertained an assortment of questions, though most were centred around the Ukraine conflict, a war he still blames on Ukraine and its Western allies despite Russia’s role in destabilising the eastern regions of Ukraine by backing the separatists since 2014. According to Putin, nations supplying armaments to Ukraine were inching closer to a conflict with Russia.
Putin did not elaborate on the exact locations for the potential placement of Russian weaponry elsewhere. During the ongoing war, troops and military gear, potentially including nuclear missiles, had been stationed in Belarus, sharing closer proximity to Europe than Russia. Furthermore, Russia’s Baltic Sea enclave, Kaliningrad, also shares borders with Europe. Russia currently maintains military presence near US bases in Syria.
When questioned about his relations with Washington, Mr Putin expressed doubt that the impending US presidential election would have much impact as long as the American pursuit of ‘greatness’ continues. In a discussion regarding the recent legal judgement against former President Donald Trump, Mr Putin opined that the US was fuelling its own downfall.
His view was that the world clearly saw the charges levelled against Trump in court, which were constructed on incidents from years ago without concrete evidence, as nothing more than a manipulation of the legal system for internal political gain.
Regarding Evan Gershkovich, an American journalist for The Wall Street Journal currently held in Russia on spying charges for over 12 months, Mr Putin confirmed vigorous action was being taken by the US for his liberation. However, all parties involved – Mr Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal and the US Government – have refuted these accusations.
Mr Putin stressed such matters should be addressed based on ‘reciprocity.’ He revealed that the respective American and Russian agencies responsible are in frequent contact about this dilemma. This story was initially published in The New York Times.