MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian lawmaker Maria Butina said on Monday that the administration of President Joe Biden was risking World War Three if it had allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deep into Russia.
“These guys, Biden’s administration, is trying to escalate the situation to the maximum while they still have power and are still in office,” Butina told Reuters.
“I have a great hope that (Donald) Trump will overcome this decision if this has been made because they are seriously risking the start of World War Three which is not in anybody’s interest.”
Reuters, citing two U.S. officials and a source familiar with the decision, reported on Sunday that Biden’s administration has made the decision to allow Ukraine to make the strikes with U.S. weapons deep into Russia.
The New York Times also reported that Biden’s administration had made the decision. The Kremlin has yet to comment on the reports.
President Vladimir Putin said on Sept. 12 that Western approval for such a step would mean “the direct involvement of NATO countries, the United States and European countries in the war in Ukraine” because NATO military infrastructure and personnel would have to be involved in the targeting and firing of the missiles.
In late October, Putin said that Russia’s defence ministry was working on different ways to respond if the United States and its NATO allies help Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with long-range Western missiles.
“I guess there are some people in the United States who have nothing to lose for whatever reason or who are completely off the grid so much that they simply do not care,” said Butina, who spent 15 months in U.S. prison for acting as an unregistered Russian agent and is now a lawmaker for the ruling United Russia party.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Lidia Kelly;)
