Russia says it is considering downgrading its relations with certain NATO countries due to the deeper involvement of the US and its allies in the Ukraine war.
“The issue of lowering the level of diplomatic relations is a standard practice for states that face unfriendly or hostile manifestations,” Russia’s presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
“Due to the growing involvement of the West in the conflict over Ukraine, the Russian Federation cannot but consider various options for responding to such hostile Western intervention in the Ukrainian crisis.”
The Russian government has criticized the United States for continuing to provide military assistance to Ukraine. Washington recently approved Kiev’s use of long-range missiles supplied by the West on targets inside Russia, further escalating tensions with Moscow.
The Kremlin issued a warning on Monday, cautioning Washington against the potential “consequences” of attacks inside Russia.
The Kremlin summoned the US ambassador to Russia after a Ukrainian attack using an American-supplied missile killed four people in Crimea.
Peskov said Russia was considering different ways to retaliate against the United States and its Western allies.
President Vladimir Putin has warned that one of Moscow’s many available options to retaliate could be to supply arms to other countries to hit targets inside Western countries.
In this regard, Putin’s visits to North Korea and Vietnam signal a shift in geopolitical alliances to counter US efforts to maintain its hegemony across the globe.
Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, another main anti-Western global power, have agreed to further deepen their “strategic partnership”.
In May, in his first China visit after he was sworn in for a fifth term as Russia’s president, Putin and Xi vowed to make their currently strong bond even stronger to counter the US threat.
Since the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, the US-led Western countries have provided Ukraine with an unending supply of military and financial aid.
