BEIJING, September 13. /TASS/. The much-discussed possibility of a decision to let Ukraine use Western weapons for strikes deep into Russia's territory, should it materialize, will trigger an escalation that might culminate in retaliatory strikes against European NATO countries, Sergey Karaganov, the honorary chairman of the Presidium of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy (CFDP), has told TASS on the sidelines of the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing.

"Sooner or later, it will come, naturally, to strikes on the territories of European NATO countries," Karaganov said, commenting on the debates in the West about the possibility of long-range strikes on Russia from Ukraine.

"We have a whole series of more steps up the escalation ladder. It may even come to nuclear strikes, but I hope this won't happen," he said.

Earlier, The Daily Telegraph reported that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden during a meeting in Washington on Friday might touch upon the issue of granting Ukraine permission to use British long-range Storm Shadow missiles. The Guardian reported on September 11 that Starmer did not intend to speak publicly about granting Ukraine such a permit following his meeting with Biden. According to The Daily Telegraph, if the parties allow Ukraine to fire long-range missiles deep into Russian territory, they will probably announce this at the UN General Assembly in late September.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the media that Ukraine was unable to strike deep into Russian territory without Western help because it needed intelligence from satellites and flight tasks to do so. The Russian leader noted that NATO countries were now not just debating about Kiev's possible use of Western long-range weapons. They are essentially deciding whether or not to get directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict. Putin pointed out that Moscow would make decisions based on the threats that would be posed to Russia.