Russia will be ‘at war’ with NATO if Ukraine long-range missile restrictions lifted, Putin warns

By Avery Schmitz and Michael Conte, CNN

(CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned NATO alliance leaders that a move to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of longer-range Western missiles to strike deep inside his country would be considered an act of war.

“This will mean that NATO countries – the United States and European countries – are at war with Russia. And if this is the case, then, bearing in mind the change in the essence of the conflict, we will make appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us,” Putin told reporters on Thursday.

Putin’s comments come as US and NATO allied partners appear increasingly open to the possibility of allowing Ukrainian forces to use Western-provided long-range weapons systems to strike at Russian military targets, something which Kyiv has openly pressed for as the war continues deep into its second year.

During a recent visit to Kyiv, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered the strongest suggestion yet the White House was considering lifting restrictions in line with a broader strategic shift among NATO partners.

“From day one, as you heard me say, we have adjusted and adapted as needs have changed, as the battlefield has changed, and I have no doubt that we’ll continue to do that as this evolves,” Blinken said, while speaking alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

The UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, arrived in Washington Friday for talks with US President Joe Biden that are expected to center on the use of Western weapons against targets in Russia.

Although the US has adjusted its policy to allow limited cross-border strikes into Russia using US-provided weapons, US President Joe Biden has yet to approve the use of longer-range systems. US officials have previously expressed concerns that allowing Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia could escalate the conflict.

Before those discussions, Russia’s security service, the FSB, revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats in Moscow and accused them of spying, without providing evidence. Britain later said the expulsion occurred last month and called the accusations “completely baseless.”

Biden is facing pressure at home from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to ease the restrictions as Ukraine struggles to consolidate battlefield advances and risks being pinned back by Russian forces.

On Tuesday, the bipartisan congressional Ukraine caucus called on Biden to allow Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with the long-range weapons.

A group of key House Republicans also wrote to the president this week ahead of Blinken’s Ukraine trip, echoing appeals from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to lift the restrictions.

But Putin on Thursday raised doubts as to whether Kyiv could carry out long-range strikes alone, saying “the Ukrainian army is not capable of using cutting-edge high-precision long-range systems supplied by the West” without NATO assistance in targeting.

The US military already does provide intelligence to Ukraine, and has previously assisted in the targeting, although not with the long-range systems currently being considered.

According to Center for a New American Security Senior Fellow Dr. Stacie Pettyjohn, there may also be other intelligence resources available to Ukrainian forces, including commercial satellite imagery, depending on the target.

In a Thursday news conference Blinken reiterated that, as part of continuing military assistance to Ukraine, the US provides intelligence to Ukrainian forces, but declined to answer whether the US would increase its intelligence sharing.

Asked about the concerns of escalation, Blinken said Wednesday that they are one factor, but “certainly not the only factor, and it’s not necessarily a dispositive factor.”

He also accused Russia of escalation with its acquisition of Iranian ballistic missiles.

“We’ve now seen this action of Russia acquiring ballistic missiles from Iran, which will further empower their aggression in Ukraine, so if anyone is taking escalatory action, it would appear to be Mr. Putin and Russia,” said Blinken.

On Friday, United Nations spokesman Stéphane Dujarric warned of “increasing rhetoric” around nuclear weapons, after the Russian ambassador to the United Nations echoed Putin’s comments and invoked Russia’s nuclear capabilities. Speaking in the UN Security Council on Friday, Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya warned: “The facts are that NATO will be a direct party to hostilities against a nuclear power. I think you shouldn’t forget about this and think about the consequences.”

The US first provided Ukraine with long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, which have a maximum range of about 180 miles (290 kilometers), in October of 2023. Kyiv has long called on its Western backers to allow the use of weapons systems that would provide a longer reach inside Russian territory.

In an recent interview with CNN’s Alex Marquardt, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that airfields Russia uses to hit Ukrainian cities are within the range of deep strikes. To date, Ukraine has used its existing supply of long-range ATACMS to target high-value Russian assets in occupied Crimea, including air defenses, ammo depots and airfields.

If NATO countries move forward with authorizing the use of Western weapons for long-range strikes inside Russian territory, this technology could also be used to target close-range ballistic missile (CRBM) systems that arrived in-country from Iran in recent weeks, former US ambassador William Courtney, now an adjunct senior fellow at the RAND Corporation, told CNN. With a range of just 75 miles, a US-made system like ATACMS “could hit anything at that distance and well beyond,” he told CNN.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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