Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, said that decision by the Biden White House to allow Ukraine to attack sites deep inside Russia with U.S. ATACMS could change the nature of the conflict and will provoke a harsh response from the Russian Federation. According to URA.ru on Nov. 18, “‘Biden has apparently decided to end his presidential term and go down in history as “Bloody Joe,”’ Slutsky told RIA Novosti. ‘If the publication’s sources are confirmed, it will mean only one thing: direct U.S. participation in the military conflict in Ukraine. Which will inevitably entail the harshest response from Russia, based on the threats that will be created for our country.’” In Slutsky’s opinion, such actions by the United States require a response not only in the context of the Ukrainian conflict, but also in the broader aspect of preventing a global confrontation.
In response to a question from RBC, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova simply replied, “The President has spoken out on this matter,” referring to President Putin’s previous statements regarding any attack by Ukraine deep into Russia. RBC cited among other of Putin’s statements, his September 25 decision to update Russia’s nuclear deterrence policy, declaring: “The updated version of the document [on Russian nuclear policy] is supposed to regard an aggression against Russia from any non-nuclear state but involving or supported by any nuclear state as their joint attack against the Russian Federation.”
