Vladimir Putin in chilling new threat to the US as he warns of 'very serious problems'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has chillingly hinted Russia could retaliate by supplying weapons to its enemies in a horror warning to the West.

During a discussion with foreign journalists at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin cautioned that Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil using US weapons could result in severe repercussions, warning it could lead to "very serious problems".

He questioned: "If someone thinks it is possible to supply such weapons to a war zone to attack our territory and create problems for us, why don't we have the right to supply weapons of the same class to regions of the world where there will be strikes on sensitive facilities of those countries?"

He added: "That is, the response can be asymmetric. We will think about it."

These sentiments were echoed by Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council. Putin's ally lashed out at the stance from the West, adding: "This is what the Yankees and their drooling European dogs think: we have the right to send any weapons to Ukraine—the enemy of our country—but no country can help Russia."

The context for these remarks is the decision by NATO allies to permit Ukraine to use weapons supplied by them for limited attacks within Russia.

This move could potentially thwart Moscow's ability to initiate a new offensive in the northeastern regions. Ukrainian officials had expressed concerns about a possible fresh assault following the May 10 offensive against Kharkiv, where Russian forces capitalised on weaknesses and effectively diverted Ukrainian troops.

Ukraine has received approval from Washington to use US-supplied weapons against targets within Russia, albeit with restrictions.

Ukrainian MP Yehor Cherniev told The Associated Press that these weapons could only be used in Russian border regions east of Ukraine, where Russian forces are stationed and launch attacks. They are not permitted to target airfields or aircraft that fire missiles at Ukraine, including at civilian areas.

Cherniev noted that Ukraine has “stopped” the momentum of the northeast offensive in the Kharkiv region. Despite potential further advances by Russian forces, "now we can destroy their troops on the territory of Russia near the border of Kharkiv".

"We also already destroyed some of their air defence systems, which they used against us," added Cherniev, deputy chairman of parliament's National Security, Defence and Intelligence Committee.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby clarified that there has never been a restriction on Ukrainian forces shooting down hostile aircraft, "even if those aircraft are not necessarily in Ukrainian airspace. ... They can shoot down Russian aeroplanes that pose an impending threat. And they have. They have since the beginning of the war."

President Biden reinforced this position, telling ABC News: "We’re not talking about giving (Ukraine) weapons to strike Moscow, to strike the Kremlin." He emphasised that the weapons provided are intended for use "just across the border where they’re receiving significant fire from conventional weapons used by the Russians to go into Ukraine to kill Ukrainians."

Expressing his concerns about Putin's actions, Biden described him as "a dictator" and insisted "we will not walk away" from defending Ukraine. He confirmed the commitment to prevent Russia from posing a greater threat to Europe.