Russia Warns Weapons Shipments Entering Ukraine Are “Legitimate Targets”

Russia on Friday said that any weapons shipments entering Ukraine would be considered “legitimate targets” as the US is working with its NATO allies to send more arms into the warzone.

“We clearly said that any cargo moving into the Ukrainian territory which we would believe is carrying weapons would be fair game,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with RT.

“This is clear because we are implementing the operation the goal of which is to remove any threat to the Russian Federation coming from the Ukrainian soil,” Lavrov added.

The US and NATO have been sending weapons into Ukraine via the Polish-Ukrainian border. Russia sent a clear message to the Western powers last weekend when it launched missiles at western Ukraine’s Yavoriv military facility, which is just 15 miles from the Polish border.

The Yavoriv facility has previously hosted US and NATO troops for training missions and housed foreigners who volunteered to fight for Ukraine at the time of the Russian missile attack.

Despite the warning from Russia, the US is still pledging new military aid for Ukraine. On Wednesday, President Biden announced a new $800 million weapons package for the Ukrainians, which includes armed drones, and shoulder-fired anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

The US and its NATO allies are also considering sending Ukraine more advanced Russian-made weaponry, including S-300 surface-to-air missiles and MiG-29 fighter jets. Lavrov addressed these plans and said that the former Soviet states who have such arms shouldn’t be able to send them to a third country without Russia’s consent.

“I would like to remind the countries who might be playing with this idea that the Soviet- and Russian-made systems of missile defense or any other purpose are there on the basis of intergovernmental agreements had contracts which include the end-user certificate,” Lavrov said. “And the end-user certificate doesn’t allow for that, to send weapons to any third country without our consent. This is a legal obligation.”

Republished from Antiwar.com with permission