Grapevine

By Al Jazeera
Sep 20, 2024

Talk of Ukraine’s missile deal riles Russia; Kyiv vows to make more weapons

Ukraine’s officials lay out plans for domestic defence industry as they await word from Western powers about long-range strikes.

Russian officials delivered dissonant statements in the past week about how Moscow would respond to Western weapons striking deep inside its territory, and whether such attacks will happen at all.

Russian diplomats played on the now-familiar threat of a nuclear response.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the state news agency TASS on Saturday that Ukraine’s Western allies had already approved deep strikes inside Russia.

“The decision [to allow Kyiv to strike] is there; all the carte blanche indulgences have been issued to Kyiv’s clients,” TASS quoted him as saying. “Therefore, we will respond in a brutal way.”