President Vladimir Putin warned the West that Russia would strike new targets if the United States started supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles, the TASS news agency reported on Sunday.
Putin said if such missiles are supplied, we will strike at targets that we have not yet been hitting, in an excerpt from an interview with the state television channel Rossiya-1.
Putin did not elaborate on the targets Russia planned to pursue if Western countries began supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles. He said the fuss around Western weapon supplies to Ukraine was intended to drag out the conflict.
Ukraine has been seeking Multiple Rocket Launch Systems MLRS such as the M 270 and M 142 HIMARS to strike troops and weapons stockpiles at the Russian forces rear.
U.S. President Joe Biden has announced plans this week to give Ukraine precision HIMARS rocket systems after getting assurances from Kyiv that they would not use them to hit targets inside Russia.
Russian officials have warned that the U.S. decision to supply Ukraine with advanced rocket systems could exacerbate the conflict, but Putin said it wouldn't bring any fundamental changes on the battlefield.
Putin said that the United States and some other countries are providing advance rocket systems to make up for the losses of this military equipment.
Putin said in an excerpt from the interview aired on Saturday that Russian anti-aircraft forces have shot down dozens of Ukrainian weapons and are cracking them like nuts.