Live updates: US allows Ukraine to make long-range missile strikes into Russia | CNN

US President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range American missiles in Russia shows that his administration wants to “throw oil on the fire” of the conflict, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

“It is obvious the outgoing administration in the United States wants to throw oil on the fire and escalate the conflict in Ukraine,” Peskov told reporters Monday.

He said if Biden’s decision was “formulated and communicated to the Kyiv regime, then of course this is a qualitatively new round of tension.”

Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had set out Russia’s position “extremely clearly and unambiguously” in comments he made in St. Petersburg in September.

At that meeting, Putin was asked to comment on the possibility of the US granting Ukraine permission to use American weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.

“If this decision is made, it will mean nothing short of direct involvement – it will mean that NATO countries, the United States, and European countries are parties to the war in Ukraine,” Putin said at the time.

“This will mean that NATO countries – the United States and European countries – are at war with Russia.”

He said if that happened, Russia would “make appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us.”

Speaking Monday, Peskov said “everything was said extremely clearly” by Putin in St. Petersburg. “I simply recommend that you once again familiarize yourself with these words of the president,” he added.