< p>Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said today that there could be "fatal consequences" for the US if it ignores Moscow's warnings not to allow Ukraine to use weapons provided by Washington to strike at targets in Russia, reported Reuters and BTA.
Ryabkov said this while commenting on US President Joe Biden's decision last week to approve the use of US-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia linked to attacks on Ukraine's Kharkiv region.
"I would like to warn American leaders not to make miscalculations that could have fatal consequences. For incomprehensible reasons, they underestimate the seriousness of the response they may receive," said Ryabkov, quoted by the state news agency RIA Novosti.
He was referring to comments last week by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said NATO countries were playing with fire and risking a deeper global conflict – one of a series of warnings from Moscow about the risk of serious escalation.
"I call upon these figures (in the US)… to spend some of the time that they apparently spend on some video games, judging by the lightness of their approach to serious issues, to devote time to a detailed study of what Putin said, in particular at the press conference after the talks in Tashkent, Ryabkov said .
In his words, Putin's warning "is very important and should be taken with the highest level of seriousness".
Putin said the West would be directly involved in any use of its weapons by Ukraine to strike inside Russia because its satellite, intelligence and military assistance would be needed to carry out such attacks, Reuters noted.< /p>
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last week that NATO has the right to help Ukraine assert its own right to self-defense and that this does not make NATO a party to the conflict.
Ryabkov also said that attempts by Kiev to target Russian early warning radar systems would be thwarted and that Moscow could respond asymmetrically to such moves.
A Ukrainian intelligence source said last week that a Ukrainian drone had targeted a long-range radar deep inside Russian territory that is part of Russia's early warning system for nuclear attacks.