BERLIN, September 17. /TASS/. Allowing the Ukrainian army to deliver strikes with Western weapons deep into Russia’s interior will become a completely new situation for Moscow with corresponding consequences, Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechaev said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk Radio.
"This would be a completely new situation for us and President Putin highlighted this a couple of days ago. For us, this will be a completely new situation with all ensuing consequences," the diplomat noted.
"They [NATO countries] will absolutely clearly become parties to the conflict. I would like to hear from experts, above all, which consequences will ensue, but there will be consequences and this is clear," the envoy cautioned.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that Ukraine is incapable of carrying out strikes deep into Russian territory without help from the West, because such strikes require satellite intelligence and flight tasks. The Russian leader noted that NATO countries are currently not merely discussing whether to allow Ukraine to use their long-range weapons, but are essentially deciding whether to become directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict. He noted that Moscow will make decisions based on the threats posed to Russia.
In turn, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that Moscow is aware that the West has already made a decision regarding strikes deep into Russian territory and sent corresponding signals to Kiev. According to the senior diplomat, Russia will react to these strikes "to the fullest extent possible.".