MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Thursday that Western nations which supply Ukraine with weapons to directly strike Russian territory will definitely face consequences after President Vladimir Putin said he was considering arming the West's enemies in retaliation.
Speaking with senior editors of international news agencies in St Petersburg on Wednesday, the Russian leader said Moscow was thinking about supplying advanced long-range weapons - of a similar nature to those the West is giving Ukraine - to the West's adversaries around the world.
Putin specifically mentioned long-range missiles being supplied to Ukraine by the United States, Britain and France, hinting he might move to arm forces fighting their overseas interests.
"We are thinking that if someone thinks it is possible to supply such weapons to a war zone in order to strike at our territory and create problems for us, then why do we not have the right to supply our weapons of the same class to those regions of the world where there will be strikes on sensitive facilities of those countries that are doing this to Russia?" said Putin.
"So the response could be symmetrical. We will think about this."
Putin's comments raised the possibility of Moscow supplying long-range missiles to groups which oppose U.S., British and French interests in areas of tension such as the Middle East.
When asked on Thursday if the Kremlin would name countries or regions to which Russia might supply arms in this way, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:
"Of course not. The president said exactly what he wanted to say, and it's a very important statement that is very transparent that the supply of weapons that will be fired at us cannot go without consequences, and those consequences are certain to come."
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
