ST. PETERSBURG, June 7. /TASS/. The West is sorely mistaken if it thinks that it can lie and wriggle its way out of responsibility for strikes on Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
"With this conniving, these lies and hypocrisy the West hopes to avoid responsibility for destructive activities, for what they have allowed the Kiev regime to do now," the diplomat said, referring to the West's permission for Kiev to use supplied weapons to strike deep into Russia.
"But allow me to disappoint them. They will not avoid responsibility, they will not succeed," the spokeswoman emphasized.
Zakharova noted that the Ukrainian armed forces attacked residential neighborhoods in Belgorod with American HIMARS multiple rocket launchers a few hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken authorized strikes on Russian territory. "That is, American weapons were used by the Kiev regime on civilian objects in practice, in a real terrorist act," the diplomat summarized.
Blinken confirmed on May 31 that US President Joe Biden had authorized Kiev to carry out strikes on Russia with US weapons. According to him, this concerns only strikes on Russia's neighborhoods near Kharkov. Russian President Vladimir Putin noted on May 28 that target selection and flight assignments for advanced strike systems are made remotely or automatically, "without any presence of Ukrainian servicemen," and this is done by those who manufacture and supply these strike systems to Ukraine. Putin warned that NATO countries should "realize what they are playing with."
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) will be held on June 5-8. This year’s theme will be "The Formation of New Areas of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World." Scheduled events include meetings for small and medium-sized businesses, creative industries, the SPIEF Youth Day, as well as the Drug Security, SPIEF Academy and SPIEF Junior forums. SPIEF is organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS is the information partner of the event.