Russian response to what US’ “clients” in Ukraine do may be “asymmetrical” and stronger than expected, senior diplomat has warned
FILE PHOTO: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov. © Sputnik
The US is close to making a “fatal” miscalculation when dealing with Russia in the context of the Ukraine conflict, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has warned.
The senior diplomat commented on Monday on the reported US decision to let Kiev use American weapons outside what Washington considers Ukrainian territory. The move is supposedly limited to a small border piece of Russia’s Belgorod Region relevant to the hostilities in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region.
”I’d like to warn American actors against miscalculations that can lead to fatal consequences. For some unclear reason they underestimate how serious a response they could face,” Ryabkov told journalists.
Up to then the stated US policy had been to ban such attacks so as to prevent triggering “World War III.” Kiev said it was not happy with the change, since it wants to fire long-range American weapons deep inside Russia.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of “serious consequences” of such long-range strikes, which, he said, may “happen in Europe.” The US reaction to such a development was in question, “considering the [countries’] parity in strategic weapons,” he added.
Ryabkov urged American policymakers to heed the president’s words, suggesting that they “spend some of their time, which they probably waste on computer games, judging by their air-headed approach to serious issues” and take note of what Putin had said.
The official also warned that Russian reaction to Ukrainian attacks on its nuclear deterrence may be “asymmetrical,” since Moscow holds the US responsible for them. US officials “have given Kiev a permit for any crimes, any action, and do nothing to curb provocations by their clients… But the US does not get this for free and will feel consequences,” the deputy FM warned.
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Ukrainian sources have claimed to the media that Kiev targeted two early-warning radar stations in Russia last month, allegedly causing damage to one of them. The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment on the reports. The facilities in question are designed to detect launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and give the Russian leadership a window of opportunity to decide how to respond.