Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that weapons supplied to Ukraine from the West would not change anything on the battlefield and would only escalate the conflict further, adding that foreign-made tanks were a “priority target” for Moscow’s forces, Reuters reported.

On Thursday, after a NATO summit at which Ukraine was promised membership in the alliance, Putin commented on state television that such a move would threaten Russia’s security and increase global tensions.

“The supply of new weapons will only worsen the situation … and further inflame the conflict,” Putin said.

Putin downplays the importance of long-range SCALP missiles

Responding to a question about France’s decision to supply Ukraine with long-range SCALP cruise missiles capable of reaching 250 km, Putin said: “Yes, they cause damage, but nothing critical happens in the combat zone with their use.”

Putin added that foreign-made tanks are a “priority target for our guys.”

Actually, the day before, the President of the Russian Parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, said, also in a threat similar to the one expressed by Putin, that Russia intends to present to the embassies of Western countries the NATO equipment it destroyed in Ukraine. which provided

Western countries have supplied Ukraine with billions of dollars worth of weapons since Russian troops invaded the country on February 24, 2022, in what Putin calls a “special military operation” to “denazify” the country.

At a summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius this week, NATO leaders agreed that Ukraine should be able to join the military alliance at some point in the future, but did not extend an immediate invitation to Kyiv. On Thursday, Biden made it clear that “no country can join NATO while it is at war.”

The G7 countries also released an international long-term security framework for Ukraine to strengthen its defense against Russia and deter Moscow from future aggression.

In his first public response since the NATO summit, Putin reiterated Moscow’s staunch opposition to Ukraine joining the alliance, saying it would threaten Russia’s strategic interests.

“This will not increase the security of Ukraine itself. And in general, it will make the world much more vulnerable,” he said.

Any country has the right to improve its security, he added, but not at the expense of another country.