‘Usually just rhetoric’: European policy leaders downplay Putin’s war threats

Putin said allowing Kyiv to use western-made long-range weapons against Russia would ‘in a significant way change the very nature of the conflict’. Photograph: Alexander Kazakov/Reuters

European leaders have dismissed Vladimir Putin’s warning that the west would be directly fighting Russia if it allowed Kyiv to strike Russian territory with western-made long-range missiles.

The US and UK are discussing, in conjunction with other allies, allowing Kyiv to strike military targets inside Russia with Storm Shadow missiles, which can hit targets up to 155 miles (250km) from their launch site.