Vladimir Putin 'unlikely' to hit back if West gives green light to target sites in Russia

13 September 2024, 14:01 | Updated: 13 September 2024, 14:42

By Guy Stewart

@Guy_ar_Stewart

Vladimir Putin is unlikely to hit back at Britain and the West if it gives the green light for Ukraine to target sites in Russia, senior defence figures believe.

Insiders have played down the Russian President's threat of escalation, as President Biden and Keir Starmer hold a crunch war summit later today.

The UK and the US are poised to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles inside Russia, in what would be a major development in the war.

But last night the Russian leader warned that they would be "at war" if they chose to give it the go ahead.

President Putin said: “This substantially changes the very essence, the nature of the conflict.

“If that is the case, we will take corresponding decisions based on the threats that will be created to us.”

Read more: RAF jets scrambled to intercept Russian aircraft operating 'near UK airspace'

Read more: Sir Keir Starmer says Russia can end war now as Putin warns NATO over Ukraine's use of shadow missiles

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But hours later, Sir Keir Starmer insisted that Ukraine had the right to defend itself and that Russia could stop the war if it wanted to.

He told journalists en route to Washington "Ukraine has the right to self-defence" stressing that "we don't seek any conflict with Russia".

And today, defence sources have indicated they don't believe that Putin will act, and his words are nothing but empty threats.

LBC has been told Mr Putin already considers himself at war with the West, and that his depleted missile supplies, along with an army entirely focused on Ukraine, rules out any credible threat in response to the use of Storm Shadow missiles.

One source said Russia was significantly lacking in power compared to a superior NATO alliance.

Major General Tim Cross, former commander for the British Army, told LBC News: “Putin thinks he's at war with NATO. We need to be quite clear about that.

“He has used a lot of rhetoric over the years and in the last few months to suggest that he can do everything from, using things like grey zone warfare, cyber-attacks and so forth, up to and including the threat of tactical nuclear weapons.

“In the end, they will give Ukraine the ability to strike. We have got to give Ukraine the ability to strike deep into Russia.”

Starmer's trip to the US comes following further pressure from Zelensky on the West to give him more firepower - as Ukraine continued its advance into Russian territory.It followed a series of rocket attacks by Russia on Thursday, with three Red Cross workers killed in a missile strike.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and US secretary of state Antony Blinken held talks with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv earlier this week as Ukraine continued to appeal to the two countries - especially given American intelligence that Russia had received a shipment of weapons from Iran.

While neither politician would reveal any decision, both Mr Lammy and Mr Blinken confirmed they would pass on the message to their respective leaders before they met at the end of the week.