If Ukraine gets long-range weapon, Russia will respond - Putin

The more powerful long-range weapons systems Ukraine receives from the West, the further Russia will move the threat away from its borders, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his Address to the Federal Assembly.

On Feb. 21, 2023, Russian President Putin spoke before deputies and senators in Gostiny Dvor, where clerics, public figures and participants in the special military operation in Ukraine were also present. Foreign journalists were not invited.

Putin's previous Address to the Federal Assembly took place in April 2021. He did not deliver the speech before the Parliament in 2022 due to his busy schedule, as the Kremlin then explained. Putin did not deliver his annual address in 2017 either — he addressed the parliamentarians on March 1, 2018 during the election campaign.