Newspaper front pages for the June 7th, 2024

MOSCOW- Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Western countries they’re taking a “very serious and dangerous step” by supplying weapons to Ukraine, which could result in Moscow arming their enemies.

Ukraine has relied heavily on arms supplied by Western allies to beat back Russian forces since Putin’s full-scale invasion began more than two years ago. And last week, US President Joe Biden for the first time gave Kyiv permission to use American munitions to carry out limited strikes inside Russian territory, after several European nations removed restrictions on how weapons they supply can be used.

“Supplying weapons to a conflict zone is always a bad thing,” Putin told editors from international news agencies on the sidelines of the annual economic forum in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. “Especially if this is linked to the fact that those who supply them are not only delivering weapons but managing them.”

Putin also warned that Russia could retaliate if Western countries are deemed to have become directly involved in the Ukraine conflict.

“In the end, if we see that these countries become involved in a war against us, what they are doing makes them directly involved in a war against the Russian Federation, we reserve the right to act the same way,” he said. “Overall, it leads to some serious problems.”