JAKARTA - Sergey Chemezov, a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the United States and its Western allies are at risk of triggering a global war if Washington continues to "provocation" the conflict in Ukraine and allow Kyiv to attack Russian territory.
His remarks to Reuters provide a rare picture of thoughts in Putin's inner circle following a sudden Ukrainian attack on Kursk's territory in Russia.
Putin emphasized that the response was 'worthy' but had not yet said what the impact would be.
Chemezov, CEO of the Rostec company that supplies multiple weapons to Russia for war, said Russia felt confident and had enough weapons for more than two years after what the Kremlin called a special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine.
He reiterated the position of the Kremlin, the conflict was a battle between the West and Russia.
"In a situation where the West, led by the United States, provokes war, we must be ready," Chemezov said in a written response to a request for an interview.
"The third year a special operation is underway Russia feels confident," he added.
He said no one could provide a time frame for when the war would end, and accused the US of fueling conflict by supplying weapons to Kyiv and allowing attacks far into Russia.
The further this conflict occurs, the greater the risk the world will risk being dragged into a global conflict. It looks strange, but Western countries don't seem to understand how big this impact is for them," he explained.
Chemezov's comments, a former KGB general who served with Putin in East Germany before the Soviet Union collapsed, were sent to Reuters after the attack began.
Putin said last week Russian troops would expel Ukrainian troops from Russian sovereign territory but they remained within Russia.
Previously Putin said he could deploy conventional missiles within attack distance of America and its allies in Europe if they let Ukraine attack further into Russia with long-range weapons of Western supply.
Putin called the conflict in Ukraine part of an existential battle against Western countries experiencing setbacks, which he said had humiliated Russia after the 1989 collapse of the Berlin Wall by violating what he thought was Moscow's territory, including Ukraine.
Western countries that have supplied large numbers of weapons to Kyiv, reject Moscow's interpretation of the war and consider it an unwarranted seizure of land by Russia.
Moscow said the West was involved in planning a Ukraine attack on the Kursk region. Western countries, which want to avoid direct military confrontation with Russia, deny this and say it was Russia that sparked the war.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
