UNITED NATIONS (New York). Sept 13 (Interfax) - Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya on Friday warned the UN Security Council of the repercussions of possibly lifting restrictions for Kiev on using Western long-range weapons for strikes on Russian territory.
"If the decision to lift the restrictions has actually been taken or is going to be taken, it will mean that from now, NATO countries begin a direct war against Russia. In this case, of course, we will be forced to make appropriate decisions with all the effects that result from them for the Western aggressors," Nebenzya said at a session.
"NATO will become a direct party to military action against a nuclear power. I think it is not necessary to explain what consequences this may have," he said.
The use of long-range Western weapons is possible only if there is access to intelligence from U.S. and EU satellites, he said. "Ukraine itself is far from having such a capability. Only NATO soldiers can preprogram flight missions for missile systems. Essentially, this is not about permitting Kiev to carry out strikes with long-range weapons throughout Russian territory, but about the West deciding for itself on what targets to strike," he said.
In Russia's view, "the decision to lift restrictions on using long-range weapons to strike Russia was made in the West a long time ago," he went on to say. "And now, we are simply watching the final stage of its legitimization in the eyes of public opinion, in the information field," Nebenzya said.
Deputy United States Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood in turn said that Washington will continue to provide security assistance to Kiev.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that the U.S. authorities will continue taking note of changes to realities in the combat area while providing security assistance to Ukraine. "As we go forward, we will do exactly what we have already done, which is we will adjust, we will adapt as necessary, including with regard to the means that are at Ukraine's disposal to effectively defend," Blinken said at a press conference in Warsaw when asked whether the U.S. has allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons for strikes deep inside Russia.
The Guardian reported on Wednesday citing sources that the British government had decided to allow Ukraine to use long-range Storm Shadow missiles to strike targets on Russian territory.
According to The Guardian, when the official announcement about the government's decision will be made remains unknown.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at an event in St. Petersburg on Thursday about Kiev being unable to independently carry out strikes deep inside Russian territory with Western weapons. "The thing is - I have already spoken about it, and all experts will confirm it here and in the West - that the Ukrainian army is not capable of making strikes using modern Western-made long-range high-precision systems. They cannot do that," Putin said. "That's only possible using intelligence data from satellites, which Ukraine does not have. These are data only from EU or U.S. satellites; in general, from NATO satellites," he said.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday described the reports that the U.S. is mulling giving permission to Ukraine to make strikes on Russian territory as a "camouflage discussion." "This is a camouflage discussion. Obviously, the decisions were made a long ago. Obviously, Ukraine will continue its terrorist attacks. It is highly probable they will try to strike social facilities, as they have been doing so far," Peskov said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper.