Putin Warns Ukraine War Escalating Towards Global Conflict Amid Western Arms Support
President Vladimir Putin declared on Thursday that the Ukraine conflict is escalating into a global confrontation, accusing the United States and Britain of enabling Ukraine to strike Russian targets with their weaponry. He warned that Russia could retaliate decisively against the West.
Putin revealed that Moscow had responded to these attacks by launching a new hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile at a Ukrainian military facility, with further strikes likely. He assured that civilians would be warned ahead of any such actions.
Ukraine, with U.S. approval, utilized American-made ATACMS missiles on November 19 and British Storm Shadow missiles alongside HIMARS on November 21, targeting Russian regions, according to Putin. He stated that the Storm Shadow attack on the Kursk region resulted in casualties, while the ATACMS strikes caused no significant damage.
In a televised address, Putin claimed that the conflict, previously regional, had taken on global dimensions due to Western involvement. He accused the U.S. of steering the world toward widespread conflict and pledged a “decisive and mirrored response” to further escalation.
Russia, he stated, reserves the right to target military facilities in countries supplying weapons used against its forces. “If anyone doubts this, they are mistaken—there will always be a response,” Putin emphasized.
Currently, Russia controls 18% of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, annexed in 2014, as well as significant portions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. Ukraine and its Western allies see the 2022 invasion as a violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and fear that a Russian victory could embolden Moscow to target NATO members in the future.
Putin also announced the successful testing of Russia’s new hypersonic missile, “Oreshnik” (the Hazel), targeting a Ukrainian missile and defense facility in Dnipro. He said this marked Russia’s continued development of short- and medium-range missiles in response to U.S. missile deployments in Europe and the Far East.
He criticized the U.S. withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019, a move justified by Washington citing alleged Russian violations, which the Kremlin denies.
Russia, Putin noted, had imposed a unilateral moratorium on deploying medium- and shorter-range missiles, contingent on similar restraint from the West. “Future actions will depend on the West’s approach and threats against Russia,” he concluded.
