Russia warns of retaliation against West over providing Ukraine with powerful weapons

Russia threatened to retaliate against the U.S. and other Western nations if they provide more powerful weapons to Ukraine, warning on Sunday that stepped-up military aid from allies would trigger a “global catastrophe.”

Supporters of Ukraine made new pledges worth billions of dollars in armored vehicles, air defense systems and other arms to the embattled European nation late last week, although their promises stopped short of sending German-made battle tanks that Kyiv specifically requested.

“Supplies of offensive weapons to the Kyiv regime would lead to a global catastrophe,” said State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia’s parliament.

“If Washington and NATO supply weapons that would be used for striking peaceful cities and making attempts to seize our territory as they threaten to do, it would trigger a retaliation with more powerful weapons,” he said.

Ukraine has been seeking more weapons in anticipation of a Russian offensive in the spring.

Defense officials from nearly 50 countries met on Friday in Ramstein, Germany, to consider Ukraine’s requests for more military help and made fresh pledges of aid, although they failed to agree on sending the German-made Leopard 2 tanks.

The meeting in Germany “left no doubt that our enemies will try to exhaust or better destroy us,” Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council, warned on his messaging app channel.

He said Russia may form a military alliance with nations that oppose the U.S. He didn’t name names, but Russia has defense ties to such nations as Iran, Venezuela, North Korea and China.

“In case of a protracted conflict, a new military alliance will emerge that will include the nations that are fed up with the Americans and a pack of their castrated dogs,” Medvedev said.

Making a surprise trip to Ukraine on Sunday, Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister, voiced his support for sending in more arms.

“This is the moment to double down and to give the Ukrainians all the tools they need to finish the job. The sooner Putin fails, the better for Ukraine and for the whole world,” Johnson said in a statement.

In the U.S., Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Germany could be urged to act if the U.S. were to take the first step and send its Abrams tanks.

“If we announced we were giving an Abrams tank, just one, that would unleash” a supply by Germany, McCaul said on ABC’s “This Week on Sunday.” “What I hear is that Germany’s waiting on us to take the lead.”

Germany has been a major allied donor, but the Social Democratic Party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz has shown reluctance over heightened military involvement and escalation in Ukraine.

The Leopard 2 tanks are held by NATO nations, but Germany would have to approve supplying them to Ukraine. Defense experts say the Leopard 2 tanks are highly suited to Ukraine’s needs.

Supplying the tanks to Ukraine would be “more of a political gesture” than a move that would dramatically alter the course of the war, said Marina Miron of the Defense Studies Department at King’s College London.

Much depends on how many tanks would be sent, when they are sent and how Ukrainian forces are trained to use them, Miron told the Associated Press.

“The war of resources has begun,” Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov also told the AP.

“It is becoming apparent that Ukraine’s successes in the war with Russia will depend directly on the willingness and readiness of Western countries to supply not only defensive weapons to Kyiv, but also powerful offensive weapons, including modern tanks and planes,” he said.

Germany’s reluctance drew heavy criticism from Poland and the Baltic states that feel particularly vulnerable to Russian aggression.

If Germany will not agree to supplying the Leopard 2 tanks, Poland is prepared to build a coalition of countries to ship them regardless, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in an interview with state news agency PAP published Sunday.

“Evidence of the Russian army’s war crimes can be seen on television and on YouTube. What more does Germany need to open its eyes and start to act in line with the potential of the German state?” he said.

With News Wire Services