Warns West: The Longer The Range Of Weapons Supplied To Ukraine, The Further Russia Moves

Illustration of HIMARS United States of America. (Wikimedia Commons/Sgt Anthony Ortiz)

JAKARTA - Russia has warned firmly, ready to move further from the border, if the range of weapons supplied by Western countries is also getting further, alluding to the commitment in 1999.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed that his party would adapt its reaction to the threat posed, from increasing the range of weapons supplied to Ukraine.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin has commented on the situation that will arise with the arrival of new weaponry, with which I can only add, the further the range of weaponry you will supply, the further we will move from our territory, beyond the lines that Neo-Nazis can threaten the Russian Federation. ," warned Foreign Minister Lavrov, citing TASS 6 June.

He said the claim of the formula 'there would be no weapons supply, had there been no special operations' is a false simplification.

"The bottom line is that we have been warning the United Kingdom, the United States and other NATO members for 20 years: 'Dear friends, you signed a commitment in 1999 that no country will strengthen its security at the expense of the security of another country and so why? You can't do that? Why does it turn out to be a lie? And instead, you say: 'get away from us, we admit who we want.' And you have grown five times closer to our borders," said Foreign Minister Lavrov.

The US Government announced on June 1 that it will provide a new military aid package to Ukraine which will include shipments of HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) weapons and ammunition. It said the first batch would include four rocket systems.

US officials previously said the attack range of the HIMARS wheeled light rocket launcher would not exceed 80 km. As stressed by the US government, Kyiv provided assurances that US rocket systems would not be used to strike targets on Russian territory.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on June 2 that Kyiv's assurances that it would not use US rockets against targets on Russian soil were meaningless and unreliable.