Russia to see NATO’s permit to use long-range weapons as direct involvement in war

UNITED NATIONS, September 13. /TASS/. If NATO countries allow Ukraine to use their long-range weapons to strike deep into Russia, it will mean a direct war on Russia, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said.

"Once a decision to lift restrictions is really made, it will mean that NATO countries begin a direct war on Russia from this very moment. In this case, naturally, we will be forced to make corresponding decisions with all potential consequences for the Western aggressors. And our Western colleagues won’t be able to dodge responsibility and shift the blame onto Kiev," he said at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Ukraine.

According to the Russian diplomat, such a scenario would cardinally change Moscow’s relations with Western countries.

The Daily Telegraph reported earlier that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden during a meeting in Washington on Friday might touch upon the issue of granting Ukraine permission to use British long-range Storm Shadow missiles. The Guardian reported on September 11 that Starmer did not intend to speak publicly about granting Ukraine such a permit following his meeting with Biden. According to The Daily Telegraph, if the parties allow Ukraine to fire long-range missiles deep into Russian territory, they will probably announce this at the UN General Assembly in late September.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the media that Ukraine was unable to strike deep into Russian territory without Western help because it needed intelligence from satellites and flight tasks to do so. The Russian leader noted that NATO countries were now not just debating about Kiev's possible use of Western long-range weapons. They are essentially deciding whether or not to get directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict. Putin pointed out that Moscow would make decisions based on the threats that would be posed to Russia.

Full text of Vasily Nebenzya's statement:

Statement by Permanent Representative of Russia at the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC briefing on Western Arms Supplies to Ukraine. The meetings convened at the United Nations Security Council to discuss Western arms supplies to the Kiev regime and the role of these weapons in undermining the efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis allow everyone to get a clear understanding of a real situation there. Since the last meeting, the situation has significantly deteriorated. This was predictable given the miserable condition of the Ukrainian army, which is rapidly losing town after town not only on the eastern front but also in the part of the Kursk region that they captured in August. Ukraine and its Western patrons are feverishly searching for some ‘wunderwaffe’ that could break the situation on the battleground.

Nothing could help the “expired” Ukrainian leader, be it Leopard, Abrams and Bradley tanks, or long-range Western artillery and long-range missiles Himars, ATACMS, Storm Shadow, etc. Huge hopes were pinned on F-16 fighter jets, but Ukraine has already lost one. According to the American media, the Ukrainian army has almost exhausted its stock of ATACMS missiles (several hundred missiles were provided to the Kiev regime by the US). British media reports on the loss of the stock of Storm Shadow missiles. Now there have been also reports about the upcoming supplies of American JASSM missiles to the Ukrainian army, which have a more extensive functionality than the French SCALP and British Storm Shadow missiles.

In its most modern modification, this air-to-ground missile is capable of hitting targets at a distance of 800 kilometers. At the same time, our western colleagues do not forget to talk about hostilities in Ukraine, which, as is well-known, bring them fabulous profits. There are also many other problems that are being solved at the expense of Ukraine. Thus, judging from the British press, the United Kingdom has provided large quantities of military aid to Ukraine that contained weaponry to be disposed of. This information is based on the data provided by auditors. Thus, this country's expenditure on the disposal of old military equipment will be reduced from $3.5 billion to $223 million. It’s very convenient, isn’t it.

Against this background, there is growing evidence of the use of chemical weapons by Ukrainian nationalists. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Ukrainian armed forces continue, with the consent and under the leadership of Washington and London, the systematic use of toxic substances and riot control agents (RCAs) in the zone of the special military operation. There have been recorded more than 400 cases of the use by Ukraine of non-lethal toxic chemicals, in particular chloropicrin (CWC Schedule 3 chemical), often mixed with chloroacetophenone (RCA chemical). Such incidents took place in the districts of Donetsk, in Bogdanovka, Gorlovka, Kremennaya, and Artemovsk. Most cases were confirmed by an accredited laboratory of the Russian Defense Ministry. 

In addition, there have been recorded 17 cases of the Ukrainian army using toxic chemicals for food poisoning, which caused the deaths of 15 people. According to the testimonies of civilians, during attacks on the Kursk region, the Ukrainian army used shells with unidentified gas, which killed livestock. The Russian side has also recorded cases of Ukrainian army using listed chemicals such as BZ, hydrocyanic acid, cyanogen chloride, US-made gas grenades loaded with CS substance, and Teren-6 hand grenades containing toxic irritants (Ukrainian assault groups use such grenades). What also causes concern is the statements by some representatives of the Ukrainian army regarding organophosphorus compounds at their disposal, including analogues of the chemical warfare agent tabun (GA listed in Schedule 1 of the CWC Annex on Chemicals).

In addition, we would like to recall that the only BZ production facility in the world is based in the USA. In this regard, we are still waiting for clarifications from our US colleagues as to how this chemical came into the possession of Ukrainian saboteurs in the Zaporozhye region of the Russian Federation. The Russian side carefully records all cases of the use of chemical weapons by Ukraine in violation of its obligations under the CWC, and investigates them in strict compliance with OPCW requirements, including within the chemical analytical laboratory of the Russian Defense Ministry accredited by the Organization.

The Russian Federation will continue to inform both the OPCW and the UNSC on the progress with regard to this investigation as well as on other cases of the use of toxic chemicals and RCAs by Ukraine.

The production of such substances in Ukraine has reached unprecedented levels. Thus, the discharge of hazardous chemicals from one of the enterprises in the Sumy region has caused poisoning of the Seim and Desna rivers. There has been recorded a massive fish die-off, and soon Kiev may also face a problem of water poisoning. The authorities are doing everything they can to hide this fact, as it is very difficult to shift the blame to Russia, as they usually do in other cases. We advise Kiev residents to be extremely cautious when using tap water.

The links between the Kiev regime and global terrorism are growing. We see Zelensky's clique helping terrorists in the Sahel, and we found out about that at the previous meeting on Western arms supplies to Ukraine from the statement of the Permanent Representative of Mali. As you all remember, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have already severed diplomatic relations with Kiev because of Kiev's actions and statements. In addition, according to Turkish media, in late June, Idlib hosted a meeting between representatives of Kiev and terrorists from the UNSC-listed organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, to whom Zelensky's regime offered to supply drones in exchange for the release of a number of radical anti-Russian fighters so that they could participate in combat operations against Russia.

Another extremely worrying trend has become increasingly evident in recent days. And we believe that it is critical to draw the attention of the international community to the situation.For several months now, the accomplices of the Kiev regime's crimes have been considering whether to give Zelensky carte blanche to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia. And to justify such a move they incessantly refer the groundless insinuations about the alleged supplies of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia, which has been unequivocally rejected by Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi.

An active campaign in this regard was also launched by the leader of the neoNazi junta himself. As we all understand, he is extremely interested in such a scenario – in fact, only direct involvement in the conflict of the USA and its NATO allies will save him from imminent defeat on the battlefield. The recent meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the “Rammstein format” was marked by the Ukrainian leader’s attempts to cajole his western masters into authorizing strikes deep into Russia. What also strikes is the insane justification he put forward: this is supposedly being done in order to “force Moscow to make peace”. At the same time, the gang that has entrenched itself in Kiev never repealed the decree adopted in October 2022 banning negotiations with Russia. This decree is still in place. I would like to recall that we have never shied away from negotiations and have always been willing to discuss with Kiev and its Western masters how to address the problems that compelled us to start our special military operation in February 2022.

Zelensky has no scruples about openly expressing disappointment with the indecisiveness of his masters and complaining that they do not allow him to strike a blow against the Kremlin. It is highly likely that the decision to lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons to hit Russia has long been taken in the West, and now we are simply witnessing the final steps aimed at legitimizing that decision in the eyes of the public and in the information field.

In terms of our relations with Kiev, this does not really change anything for us – the neo-Nazi regime has long been striking our territory outside the combat zone and carrying out terrorist attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure of our country. However, it is our relations with the “Western camp” that will be heavily affected as a result of such a potential shift in the situation around Ukraine. If the decision to lift the restrictions is really taken or will be taken, that will mean that from that moment on NATO countries start a direct war with Russia. If it is the case, of course, we will have to take appropriate decisions, and the Western aggressors will bear the consequences.

Our Western colleagues will not be able to get away with it and shift all the blame onto Kiev. As you know, using such weapons is only possible if you have access to intelligence data gathered with US and EU satellites. Ukraine does not have even a slightest opportunity to do this alone. Only NATO military personnel are able to program the operation of missile systems. In essence, it is not a question of authorizing Kiev to use long-range weapons to hit all the territory of Russia, but rather of deciding on targets for strikes in the West. It is the Ukrainian nationalist that will formally push the button. But it does not really matter who does it. Should there be any strikes on Russia, NATO will become a party to military action against a nuclear power. I don't think I need to explain what consequences this could bring.

By the way, Western strategists understand that such a scenario is quite plausible. Thus, as follows from the documents of the US Defense Department, The Pentagon has commissioned a simulation of the consequences of a nuclear war for the agricultural sector of Eastern Europe. The US obviously expects, as always, to sit it out over the ocean putting Europe under fire. We can hardly understand the rationale behind such reasoning.

Without the support from the West, Kiev would never have dared to launch that reckless invasion of the Kursk region. And we are now actively pushing back Ukrainian units that are suffering tremendous losses there. Most of the Ukrainian units involved in the adventurous border raid are using intelligence data provided to Kiev by Western countries; they are equipped with NATO-manufactured weaponry and means of communication, and use Western small arms.

In an attempt to take out its anger over the failures of the Ukrainian armed forces in Donetsk, the Kiev ringleader has in fact unleashed a punitive campaign against civilians. Border towns are being incessantly shelled with the use of aircraft, UAVs, precision missiles, rockets and artillery. All this is being done deliberately, with ostentatious disregard for the norms of international humanitarian law, as the Ukrainian ringleader rests assured that whatever Ukraine does, it would never be condemned in the West.

We have ample evidence of “concentration camps” being set up in a number of settlements controlled by militants. Civilians who were unwilling or unable to evacuate were forcefully taken there. For example, between 70 and 100 civilians were “herded” into the basements of the Suja orphanage, they were harassed and subjected to violence there. Journalists of some Ukrainian and foreign media used these people for their propagandist footage. Not only did those journalists cross the border of the Russian Federation illegally, but also they did that as part of the paramilitary units of the Ukrainian armed forces. And they deliberately became part of the Ukrainian propaganda machine. In particular, this applies to The Independent (UK), Deutsche Welle (Germany), TG1 (Italy), LT (Latvia), HotNews (Romania), 1+1 (Ukraine) and CNN (the USA). All of them just trampled on journalistic ethics, and became complicit in deliberately distorting facts and the concealing information about crimes against civilians in Kursk by Ukrainian militants.

You can easily find on the Internet and on social networks real evidence of what the Ukrainian armed forces are doing – they are harassing civilians, looting, robbing stores and private homes, and abducting people. Of course, you will never see photos and videos of that on CNN or Fox News: none of the Western politicians is willing to find out the truth about what is happening in Ukraine. The main concern of the Western politicians is to keep the public of their countries in the dark.

The violation of civil rights and freedoms taking place in Ukraine defies description. Western leaders are pretending not to notice this, but Ukrainians more and more often call their country a “concentration camp named after Zelensky”. This definition is especially precise when it comes to Ukrainian men. They can not leave their country, nor can they leave their homes, as they could be caught in the street and then thrown into a pointless and senseless meat grinder where they are doomed to die for Western geopolitical interests pursued by the mad Ukrainian dictator.

Here is how one Ukrainian MP assesses the situation – he believes that Ukraine has become a testing ground not only for military equipment but also for political technologies. The “collective West” is testing its societies and seeking to find out how the public will react to the violation of those basic human rights that the West itself has committed to prioritize. Banning elections, violating freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of movement, infringing the right to life,prohibiting the use of native languages, and introducing a culture of absolute permissiveness – this is the kind of experiment that is currently being conducted in Ukraine.

Against this background, the words of the US Secretary of State seem absurd. He claims that this extremely dangerous spiral of escalation (triggered, by the way, by Ukrainians and Americans) is viewed by the United States as assistance to Ukraine in overcoming the immediate problems posed by the so-called intensifying Russian aggression. Thus, the offensive actions of the Ukrainian armed forces, which led to the expansion of the combat zone into the peaceful Russian region, are dressed up in the grab of self-defense – such a substitution of notions.

Don’t be misled by the attempts of the USA to present US aid to Ukraine as an effort to make it stand firmly on its feet militarily, economically, and democratically. We are not going to go deep in the details, but you can ask Libyans, Iraqis, Afghans (these are only recent examples) how much favor America did for them. Destabilization, economic devastation, human suffering and pain - these are the results of Washington's policy towards these and many other countries. The same thing is happening to Ukraine, and Ukrainians are getting an increasingly better grasp of what is really going on.

Don't be fooled. The only country the American elite cares about and tries to make stronger militarily, economically, and democratically is the United States itself. And they do not care if the rest of the world will be destroyed for the sake of it. Only the blind fail to see that. And only those devoid of self-preservation instinct may fail to realize how dangerous it can be to move in the direction, in which Washington and its Ukrainian underlings are pushing the whole world. If today someone for various reasons tries to pretend that all this is not his or her business, tomorrow it may be too late to change anything. We do hope that everyone sitting in this chamber and everyone following our meeting will take it seriously.