While the full transcript is not yet available, early reports, including an article posted in RT, provide important quotes from Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia in response to the discussion about the Western countries approving long-range strikes by Ukraine inside Russia. Speaking to a meeting of the UN Security Council on Sept. 13, Nebenzia said that, “If such a decision is made, that means NATO countries are starting an open war against Russia. In that case, we will obviously be forced to make certain decisions, with all the attendant consequences for Western aggressors.”
Nebenzia went on: “Our Western colleagues will not be able to dodge responsibility and blame Kiev for everything. Only NATO troops can program the flight solutions for those missile systems. Ukraine doesn’t have that capability. This is not about allowing Kiev to strike Russia with long-range weapons, but about the West making the targeting decisions.” Russian President Putin had made this same point Thursday and previously, that these weapons require the programming and targeting infrastructure of Ukraine’s Western sponsors, and therefore these strikes would be done with the West’s full and active involvement.
