According to Reuters, this statement was made by President Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Saint Petersburg (Russia) on September 12.
In recent months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Western countries to allow the use of a variety of long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory.
President Putin said that the West would be directly involved in the war between Russia and Ukraine because Kiev would not be able to program flight paths or access satellite targeting data of ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles without NATO's help.
“Therefore, this is not a question of whether Ukraine will be allowed to use these weapons to attack Russia. This is a question of whether NATO will be involved in the conflict or not,” Putin said.
The Russian leader said that accepting Ukraine's proposals would mean NATO would be present on the battlefield and this would change the nature of the conflict.
Russia will then be forced to make “appropriate decisions” in the face of new threats, Mr. Putin stressed.
On the same day, there was a lot of information about the UK allowing Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles to attack Russian territory.
Previously, President Volodymyr Zelensky has always asserted that restrictions on the use of Western long-range weapons would reduce Ukraine's defense against Russia.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine began in 2022 and shows no signs of abating. Russia currently controls more than 18% of Ukraine's territory.
