Russian Foreign Minister warns of the risk of expanding military operations in Ukraine

On June 6, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the West’s delivery of some missile systems to Ukraine could lead to Moscow expanding its military activities in the country as a defensive measure.

“The longer the range of missiles assigned to the Kiev authorities, the more intensively we will develop options to eliminate threats to the Russian people in Ukraine and Russia,” Lavrov told a news conference. “.

The diplomat added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s promise that Kiev would not use US missiles to attack Russian territory was “incredible”.

Last week, the US announced that it would provide Kiev with M142 HIMARS missile systems, but only on the condition that they do not use them to attack Russian territory.

Mr. Zelensky had publicly accepted those terms, but several Ukrainian politicians, as well as the newly appointed US ambassador to Kiev, later contradicted the president’s pledge, saying Ukrainian soldiers were free to choose their targets, including in Crimea.

Britain plans to deliver several US-made M270 multiple launch rocket systems to Kiev, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced on June 6.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reacted to this statement by stressing that Western-supplied missile systems are not capable of giving Ukraine an advantage, noting that these weapons are “nothing new”. However, Putin warned Kiev that if it received longer-range missiles, the Kremlin would launch attacks on “targets that Russia has not hit before”.

The Russian president reiterated Moscow’s longstanding position that Western arms shipments to Ukraine are only intended to prolong the conflict.