The headline in this morning’s Kommersant newspaper captured the drama: “Vladimir Putin draws his red line.”
Will the West cross it? And if it does, how will Russia respond?
Speaking in St Petersburg, President Putin issued a clear warning to the West: do not allow Ukraine to use your long-range missiles to strike Russian territory.
Moscow, he said, would view such actions as “direct participation” by NATO countries in the war in Ukraine.
“It would substantially change the very essence, the nature of the conflict,” the Kremlin leader continued.
“This will mean that NATO countries, the USA, and European states are fighting with Russia.”
He argued that Ukraine would need data from Western satellites for missile launches into Russia and that only NATO servicemen could “input flight missions into these missile systems.”
Russia has set red lines before and seen them crossed. On 24 February 2022, when announcing his “special military operation”—the full-scale invasion of Ukraine—President Putin warned “those who may be tempted to interfere from the outside.”
“No matter who tries to stand in our way or create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will respond immediately,” the Kremlin leader declared.
“And the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history.”
Western leaders dismissed what was seen as nuclear saber-rattling at the time. Since then, the West has provided Ukraine with tanks, advanced missile systems, and, most recently, F-16 American fighter jets.
This year, Russia has already accused Ukraine of using American long-range ATACMS missiles to target Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia.
