MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned on Monday that the United States could face severe repercussions if it disregards Moscow's warnings against allowing Ukraine to use American-supplied weapons to strike targets within Russia.
Ryabkov's remarks came after President Joe Biden's recent approval for Ukraine to use U.S.-provided weapons against targets in Russia that were involved in assaults on Ukraine's Kharkiv region.
"I want to caution American leaders against miscalculations that could have dire consequences. For some reason, they underestimate the seriousness of the response they might receive," Ryabkov told state news agency RIA.
Ryabkov referenced President Vladimir Putin's statements from the previous week, where Putin warned that NATO countries were engaging in dangerous behavior that could lead to a broader global conflict. This was part of a series of warnings from Moscow about the risk of significant escalation.
"I urge these U.S. officials... to spend some of their time, which seems to be occupied with trivial activities, on thoroughly studying Putin's detailed statements," Ryabkov said. He emphasized that Putin's warning was "extremely important and must be taken with the utmost seriousness."
Putin had previously asserted that the West would be directly involved in any Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russia using Western weapons, as such operations would rely on Western satellite, intelligence, and military support.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had stated last week that NATO was entitled to assist Ukraine in its self-defense, which did not make NATO a participant in the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed gratitude to Washington over the weekend for permitting the use of U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket systems in the Kharkiv region, though he insisted this support was insufficient. Ukraine has long argued that restrictions on its use of Western-supplied weapons severely hamper its defense capabilities.
Russian news agencies reported Ryabkov's statement that Kyiv's attempts to target Russian early-warning radar systems would be countered, and Moscow might respond asymmetrically to such actions.
Last week, a Kyiv intelligence source indicated that a Ukrainian drone had targeted a long-range radar within Russia, part of Russia's early-warning system for detecting nuclear attacks.
(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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