Russia says Biden 'fuelling fire' to Ukraine war, will face 'appropriate' response

Russia warned that the use of US long-range missiles by Ukraine would result in "an appropriate and tangible" response from Moscow.

In an official statement on Monday (Nov 18), Russia's foreign ministry said that an attack inside Russian territory using US missiles "would represent the direct involvement of the United States and its satellites in hostilities against Russia," BBC reported.

The Guardian reported that the decision to allow Ukraine to use US-made missiles to strike Russia was first reported on November 18 but has not been formally announced by the White House.

“It is clear that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps to continue to add fuel to the fire and to inflame tensions around this conflict further," The Guardian reported Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, saying.

Peskov added, "This decision is reckless, dangerous, aimed at a qualitative change, a qualitative increase in the level of involvement of the United States.”

US President Joe Biden, who is currently in Rio de Janeiro for his final G20 Summit, is yet to comment on the decision.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky had long pushed for the authorisation to use the 190-mile-range Army Tactical Missile System against Russia.

In September Putin clarified that the move to let Kyiv use longer-range weapons against Russia would mean Nato would be "directly at war with Moscow."

Other than warning of taking "appropriate" action based on the threats Moscow will face, Putin further said in June that Moscow could supply its long-range weapons to other countries to attack Western targets.

“If someone thinks it is possible to supply such weapons to a war zone to attack our territory and create problems for us, why don’t we have the right to supply our weapons,” Putin said in June, The Guardian reported.

(With inputs from agencies)