Russian President Vladimir Putin warned, on Sunday, that Moscow will strike new targets if the West supplies long-range missiles to Ukraine.
If Kyiv is supplied with long-range missiles, "we will draw the appropriate conclusions and use our arms.... to strike targets we haven't hit before," Putin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.
Moreover, Putin stressed that new arms deliveries to Kyiv were aimed at "prolonging the conflict".
Russian Foreign Ministry has previously affirmed that any arms shipments to Ukraine increase the risks of direct confrontation between Moscow and Washington.
The statement came after U.S. President Joe Biden announced earlier that the U.S. is sending advanced rocket systems to Ukraine to strike “key targets on the battlefield in Ukraine.”
An official identified the weapon as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), pointing out that its range of 80 kilometres will keep them from being used to hit targets inside Moscow.
On Friday, Russia stated that Germany’s intensification of modernizing its army would increase the risks of escalation. The statement comes in response to Berlin‘s decision to purchase 60 Chinook helicopters to strengthen its army and the German Air Force.
In the same vein, the Federal Council re-confirmed neutral Switzerland’s policy of not supplying Ukraine or any conflict zones with arms.
“The criteria applicable to exports defined in the Federal Law on War Material (FLMG) and the equal treatment resulting from the law of neutrality do not allow Switzerland to approve a request for the transmission of war material of Swiss origin to Ukraine,” the government said in a statement on Friday.
Exports of war material must be refused if the country of destination is involved in an international armed conflict, according to Swiss law.
“Russia and Ukraine are involved in such a conflict,” said the government.
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