MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/. By establishing a buffer zone in the Kharkov Region, Russia is giving a legitimate response to the state-sponsored terrorism of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, State Duma International Affairs Committee Chairman Leonid Slutsky said.
The lawmaker, who is also the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia chairman, was commenting on news reports that the US gave permission to use American weapons for counter-fire strikes inside Russia.
"The establishment of a sanitary zone in the Kharkov Region is Moscow’s legitimate response the state-sponsored terrorism of the usurper Zelensky. The escalation of the conflict, for which Washington and NATO are fully responsible, is forcing Russia to take all necessary measures for defense and victory over the enemy," Slutsky wrote on Telegram.
"The puppets in Kiev are unable to use Western long-range weapons on their own as they don’t have the appropriate military skills," the lawmaker said. "We understand where the coordination of combat operations and target aiming is taking place: in the countries of the alliance. And this automatically makes them complicit in the bloody crimes of the neo-Nazi junta, terrorist attacks and genocide of Russians."
On May 30, the Pentagon confirmed that the US administration had allowed using American weapons to strike inside Russia in a counter-fire attacks. The next day, the German cabinet said that German weapons could be used to defend against attacks by Russia near the Kharkov Region. However, there is no unanimity among Western countries about restrictions for the use of their weapons by Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on May 28 that targets and flight plans for modern attack systems are assigned remotely or automatically and don’t require the presence of Ukrainian servicemen. They are assigned by those who produce and supply these attack systems to Ukraine, Putin said, warning that NATO countries should "realize what they are playing with."
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitriy Medvedev said on May 31 that all long-range weapons supplied to Ukraine are "directly operated by NATO servicemen" and that could be a reason for retaliatory strikes.