Russian President Vladimir Putin had an 3-plus-hour-long question-and-answer session with “international media” at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, according to Russian media, none of which name the foreign news agencies involved in questioning the Russian President, although they were named in the Kremlin transcript. Nonetheless, the collective “interview” is an unusual event in this dangerous period.
Putin said that Russia had “no illusions” that Ukrainian troops using NATO-supplied long-range weapons were acting independently; “the U.S. and its allies are providing the intelligence and targeting information,” the Russian President said. And he added that Russia will respond by boosting air defenses and destroying these longer-range missiles, RT quoted him. “If it is considered possible to supply such weapons to the war zone to strike our territory … why shouldn’t we supply similar weapons to those regions of the world, where they will be used against sensitive sites of these countries. We can respond asymmetrically.” Later he added, “This is a recipe for very serious problems.”
