British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters in response to a request to comment on Vladimir Putin’s remarks that Russia “started it all from the beginning” and “was the cause of the conflict” in Ukraine, RBC reported on September 13.
Vladimir Putin on the evening of September 12, at the end of a speech at a plenary session of the Forum of United Cultures, responded to a media representative’s question about his reaction to the West’s possible permission for Ukraine to use long-range weapons to strike Russian territory. Putin once again used the word “war” instead of some kind of “special military operation.” According to the Kremlin press service, he warned that if Western countries allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons, it “will mean that NATO countries, the United States, European countries are at war with Russia.” He said Kyiv would not be able to carry out such strikes on its own, it would need data from NATO satellites, and as a result the very essence, the nature of the conflict would change. “We will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be posed to us,” Putin concluded.
Prime Minister Starmer has arrived in the USA for talks with US President Joe Biden. According to him, it is the topic of support for Kiev that will be the subject of the talks, which will touch on strategy, “not just tactics”. Starmer said: “We are not looking for any conflict with Russia, we do not have such intentions in the slightest degree. But they started this conflict, and Ukraine has the right to self-defense.” The White House did not comment on Putin’s words.
TASS quoted White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre as saying in response to a question whether Washington was concerned about the Russian “president’s” words about possible involvement in the conflict, “I won’t touch on hypothetical issues.”
