Russia Ukraine war live: Moscow ready to strike French troops as UK sends Kyiv 1,000 drones

China says its special representative for Eurasian Affairs has met with Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, and that the two spoke about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and their bilateral relations.

Li Hui met with Emine Dzhaparova yesterday, according to a statement by China’s foreign ministry shared today.

Vladimir Putin has warned Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to strike Western targets, in a tit-for-tat move for Nato allies allowing Ukraine to use their arms to attack Russian territory.

The Russian president also reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to use nuclear weapons if it sees a threat to its sovereignty.

He claimed the move by the US and Germany would further undermine international security and could lead to “very serious problems”.

“That would mark their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act the same way,” Putin added.

Putin claimed that using some Western-supplied weapons involves military personnel of those countries controlling the missiles and selecting targets, and therefore he said Moscow could take “asymmetrical” steps elsewhere in the world. The US military said it does not control the missiles it provides to Ukraine or the targets.

“If they consider it possible to deliver such weapons to the combat zone to launch strikes on our territory and create problems for us, why don’t we have the right to supply weapons of the same type to some regions of the world where they can be used to launch strikes on sensitive facilities of the countries that do it to Russia?” he said.

“We will think about it,” he told the journalists on the sidelines of the annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Vladimir Putin has warned Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to strike Western targets, in a tit-for-tat move for Nato allies allowing Ukraine to use their arms to attack Russian territory.

The Russian president also reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to use nuclear weapons if it sees a threat to its sovereignty.

He claimed the move by the US and Germany would further undermine international security and could lead to “very serious problems”.

“That would mark their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act the same way,” Putin added.

Putin claimed that using some Western-supplied weapons involves military personnel of those countries controlling the missiles and selecting targets, and therefore he said Moscow could take “asymmetrical” steps elsewhere in the world. The US military said it does not control the missiles it provides to Ukraine or the targets.

“If they consider it possible to deliver such weapons to the combat zone to launch strikes on our territory and create problems for us, why don’t we have the right to supply weapons of the same type to some regions of the world where they can be used to launch strikes on sensitive facilities of the countries that do it to Russia?” he said.

“We will think about it,” he told the journalists on the sidelines of the annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russia “does not care” who wins the upcoming United States election – insisting that Moscow believes “nothing serious” will change in Washington’s policy towards Russia regardless of whether either Joe Biden or Donald Trump is re-elected.

Speaking to editors from international news agencies at Russia’s flagship annual economic forum in St Petersburg, Mr Putin said: “For the most part, we do not care [who wins the US election].”

“To say – I am speaking quite sincerely – that we believe that after the elections something will change towards Russia in American policy, I would not say so. We don’t think so. We think that nothing really serious will happen,” the Russian president said.

“For us, we do not think the end result holds much significance. We will work with any president the American people elect.”

Ukraine has used US weapons to strike inside Russia in recent days, a Western official familiar with the matter has told the Associated Press – as the White House said it was “just not in a position on a day-to-day basis of knowing exactly what the Ukrainians are firing at what”.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, Ukrainian forces struck a Russian S-300/400 air defence battery in Belgorod over the weekend, likely with a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (Himars). The air defence system was located roughly 40 miles from the current front line in northern Kharkiv, it said.

But White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that he could not confirm that Ukraine had used US weapons at targets in Russia, as Washington did not know which exact targets Kyiv was hitting each day. But he added: “It’s certainly at a tactical level.”

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 22 of the 27 Shahed-type drones launched over five Ukrainian regions in Russia’s overnight attack on Wednesday.

The attack damaged an industrial facility and injured one person in the region of Poltava, its governor, Filip Pronin, said on the Telegram messaging app.

The Ukrainian military destroyed six drones over the southern region of Mykolaiv, its governor said. Debris from one of them destroyed a private home, and damaged about 10 more, but no casualties were reported, he added.

Four drones were shot down over the southern region of Kherson and four more over the central Dnipropetrovsk region, the regions’ governors said.

The attack also targeted the northern region of Sumy, with no details of damage reported by regional authorities.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused China of helping Russia to disrupt an upcoming peace conference on the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at Asia’s premier security conference in Singapore, Mr Zelensky alleged Russia had been using Chinese diplomats in the wider Asian region to influence and dissuade countries from attending the peace summit, due to be held in Burgenstock Resort, central Switzerland, on 15 and 16 June.

Tom Watling has the full report:

In more news of Russian manouevres on the African continent, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Moscow will send additional military supplies and instructors to Burkina Faso to help the west African country boost its defence capabilities and fight terrorism.

Burkina Faso, under military leadership since a 2022 coup, has played host to contingents of the Wagner mercenary force, whose founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash last August.

“From the very first contacts between our countries after President Traore came to power, we have been very closely engaged in all areas of cooperation, including the development of military and military-technical ties”, the Tass news agency cited Mr Lavrov as saying during a visit to Burkina Faso.

“I have no doubt that thanks to this cooperation, the remaining pockets of terrorism on the territory of Burkina Faso will be destroyed,” he told a press conference in the capital Ouagadougou.

Mr Lavrov has made a series of visits to Africa since the start of the war in Ukraine as Russia, hit by Western sanctions, seeks new trade partners and tries to rally developing countries behind its vision of a “multipolar world” no longer dominated by the United States and former European colonial powers.

Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russia may consider responding in kind directly against nations which allow Ukraine to strike Russia with their long-range missiles – by providing such weapons to countries within striking distance of Western nations.

Speaking in St Petersburg, the Russian president insisted that such action by the West will further undermine international security and could lead to “very serious problems”, warning Germany that its decision to join the US in authorising Ukraine to hit some targets on Russian soil was a “very dangerous step”.

“That would mark their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act the same way,” Mr Putin added.

Because using such Western weapons involves military personnel of those countries controlling the missiles and selecting targets, Mr Putin claimed Moscow could take “asymmetrical” steps elsewhere in the world.

“If they consider it possible to deliver such weapons to the combat zone to launch strikes on our territory and create problems for us, why don’t we have the right to supply weapons of the same type to some regions of the world where they can be used to launch strikes on sensitive facilities of the countries that do it to Russia?” he said.

“We will think about it,” he added.