NATO hawks decide to push back WWIII after Putin's remarks

Elon Musk, American entrepreneur and billionaire, commented on Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent remarks about the direct participation of the West in the conflict in Ukraine.

Musk responded to a video fragment of Putin's interview posted on X social platform, in which he said that NATO countries were discussing a possibility of their participation in the conflict in Ukraine. The user who posted the interview wrote that US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris would start World War III this weekend, and will also authorize attacks deep into Russian territory.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Elon Musk wrote.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the possibility of using long-range missiles to strike Russian territory during his visit to Kyiv. Blinken said as a result of his visit that he would continue the discussion in Washington.

During a meeting at the White House on September 13, US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed that they would not give Ukraine permission to strike Russia with long-range weapons.

"Sir Keir Starmer has made clear he won't be intimidated by President Putin's warning that NATO countries would be at war with Russia if permission is given to Ukraine to fire western long-range missiles into Russian territory," ITV reports.

In the evening of September 12, Russian President Putin said that a decision for Ukraine to use Western long-range precision weapons for strikes deep into Russia would mean that NATO would be directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine. Such a decision could change "the entire nature of the conflict," Putin stressed.

The Russian leader added that Moscow would make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be created for the country."

NATO should not ignore Putin's remarks on Ukraine, Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said. He called Putin's statement a very serious warning.

"A delicate but strict warning that is not recommended to be ignored," Ulyanov noted.

The Times earlier said that US President Joe Biden may allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with long-range weapons. However, that would be only French or British, but not American missiles. Washington will not allow Kyiv to use US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles as the American authorities hope to prevent further escalation of the conflict."

Details

The MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System is a supersonic tactical ballistic missile designed and manufactured by the US defense company Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV), and later Lockheed Martin through acquisitions. It uses solid propellant and is 13 feet (4.0 m) long and 24 inches (610 mm) in diameter, and the longest-range variants can fly up to 190 miles (300 km). The missiles can be fired from the tracked M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) and the wheeled M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). An ATACMS launch container (pod) has one rocket but a lid patterned with six circles like a standard MLRS rocket lid to prevent an enemy from discerning what type of missile is loaded.