Moscow would trigger a “contingency plan” outlined by President Vladimir Putin in the event that Ukraine receives permission to use Western-supplied long-range missiles for strikes deep inside Russia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned.
Putin earlier said that any such strikes would be treated by Moscow as a direct attack by the countries that provided the weapons.
The diplomat was commenting on an upcoming meeting of Kiev’s foreign arms donors, which Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has been touting as “historic.” Moscow does not follow statements on the issue as it already has a response prepared, the foreign minister said.
“As soon as this decision is taken [by the West to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles], if it is taken, we will learn that, and the contingency mentioned by Vladimir Putin will already be in action,” Lavrov told Russia’s Channel 1 broadcaster.
Putin has warned that any such attack by Ukraine with Western-supplied long-range missiles would be treated by Moscow as being directly launched by NATO. He has suggested that Russia could arm enemies of the West with similar weapons in response.
Moscow is currently updating its nuclear doctrine to include an attack by a non-nuclear state backed by a nuclear one to the conditions which could trigger a nuclear retaliation from Russia.
Kiev has been asking the US and its allies to lift a ban on strikes deep inside Russia with their long-range weapons for months, blaming its recent setbacks on the battlefield on Western reluctance.
Russian officials previously claimed that the principal decision to grant Ukraine its wish had already been made, and that Western nations were choosing a means to present it to the general public.
Zelensky had hoped that the ban would be lifted during his visit last month to the US, where he presented his ‘victory plan’ to President Joe Biden. According to local media, US officials are skeptical about the Ukrainian leader’s proposal, which they do not consider viable for defeating Russia.
Moscow, which describes the Ukraine conflict as a US-led proxy war against Russia, has pledged to achieve its goals by any means necessary as its national security depends on it. The West is willing “to fight to the last Ukrainian” to inflict damage on Russia, the Kremlin has argued.