News - World: Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that NATO members in Europe are playing with fire by proposing to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike deep inside Russia.

Some NATO members want Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with Western weapons but the United States opposes this view.

The Russian leader said on Tuesday that such a move could trigger a global conflict.

Putin made the remarks as the West grapples with what to do about the advance of Russian troops in Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Western alliance members should allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with Western weapons.

“Constant escalation can lead to serious consequences,” Putin told reporters in Tashkent. “If these serious consequences occur in Europe, how will the United States behave, bearing in mind our parity in the field of strategic weapons?”

“It’s hard to say – do they want a global conflict?”

Putin said Ukraine could only attack Russia with long-range weapons by taking help from Western satellites, intelligence and military, which means that the West would be directly involved.

He warned that sending French troops to Ukraine would be a step towards a global conflict.

Putin said that NATO members in Europe “should be aware of what they are playing with,” as they had small land areas and very dense populations.

“This is a factor that they should keep in mind before talking about striking deep into Russian territory,” he warned.

This comes as Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said Ukraine will receive US-made F-16 fighter jets “very soon” but some half of its desperately needed foreign military aid is arriving late.

He said Russia was boosting the front with more manpower and equipment and that its forces were trying to open a new front in the north.

Earlier this month, Russia launched an offensive against the northeastern Kharkiv region but Ukraine claims it had managed to stabilize the new front there.

“Time is super-crucial and, to repel the attacks, we need to have [the deliveries] on time in place,” Umerov said.

Ukraine, due to decreasing manpower and ammunition shortages, is struggling to fend off advancing Russian ground troops. The country has for months been repeatedly asking from the West for more military hardware, long-range missiles and advanced warplanes.

The United States and its Western allies have been providing huge military and financial support to Kiev since the onset of the war in February 2022.

Moscow has repeatedly warned that any shipment containing weapons and ammunition for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia.

Source: Press TV