Tomahawk missiles in Ukraine not to change battleground situation: Russian FM Lavrov

Moscow, Sep 30 (PTI)  The Tomahawk cruise missiles will not affect the situation on the battleground in Ukraine in any way, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday, noting that Washington may be spreading the reports about the supply of these long-range missiles to Kyiv to reassure its European allies.

“The Kremlin has already stated quite clearly that even if Tomahawks emerge in Ukraine, this will not change the front-line situation,” Lavrov was quoted as saying in the Black Sea resort of Sochi by TASS.

The Ukrainian leadership’s statement about the possibility of carrying out long-range strikes deep inside Russia can be perceived only negatively, the Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday.

In a statement released by TASS on Tuesday, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has warned that the Zelinsky regime, in the face of "inevitable military defeat," is using Europeans as a cover to take extreme measures even at the risk of sparking a “major war”.

“According to information obtained by Russia’s SVR, the Kiev regime, following its attempts at provocations with unmanned aerial vehicles in Poland and Romania’s airspace, continues its efforts to draw European NATO countries into an armed confrontation with Moscow,” it said.

The statement said that another provocation is being prepared that “revolves around a sabotage and reconnaissance group allegedly made up of servicemen from Russia and Belarus’ special forces.” It claimed that the Ukrainian intelligence service, with the collaboration of the Polish counterparts, has enrolled militants of anti-government Russian and Belarusian legions raised by them for enacting terror strikes in Poland, to accuse Moscow and Minsk of attempting to destabilise the situation in a NATO country. PTI VS RD RD