Putin Suggests He Will Arm US Adversaries In “Asymmetric Response”

(PatriotWise.com) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week said that there was no current threat to the sovereignty of his country that would require the use of nuclear weapons, but he repeated his warning that Moscow could begin arming other countries or groups to strike targets in the West.

While addressing an international economic forum in St. Petersburg on June 7, Putin said Russia would only use nuclear weapons in “exceptional cases” and that he did not believe that any exceptional case “has arisen.”

The Russian president also repeated the warning he made earlier last week that Moscow reserved the right to provide weapons to Western adversaries if the NATO allies lift restrictions on Ukraine and allow it to use their weapons to strike on Russian soil.

Putin suggested that if NATO countries allowed the weapons they supply “to the combat zone” to be used to strike against Russian territory, Russia should “have the right to do the same.” However, he added that he was not prepared to say that Moscow would “be doing it tomorrow” since doing so may have an impact on global stability.

Putin did not specify which Western adversaries Russia may arm.

According to US officials, due to its depleted stockpile, Moscow has sought assistance from both Iran and North Korea to bolster its stock of short-range missiles for use in Ukraine. However, Moscow could provide some of its high-tech missile systems to Western adversaries should Putin decide to follow through on his warning.

Ukraine’s two largest weapons suppliers—the United States and Germany—recently lifted some restrictions on the use of their long-range weapons systems on targets within Russia.

US Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) and an unnamed Western official confirmed last Wednesday that Ukraine has already used US-supplied weapons to strike Russian territory since President Biden approved the new guidelines permitting Ukraine to target Russian bases that are attacking the city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine.

Putin also said last Friday that he was not planning another mobilization of conscripts to fight in Ukraine, saying that Russians were volunteering to “go to the front lines to defend the Motherland.”