now we've been focusing on the war in Ukraine this week and today the Russian president made his most hawkish comments yet about the conflict Vladimir Putin said the West would be fighting with Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western made long range missiles if this decision is taken it remain nothing less than the direct involvement of NATO countries the United States and European countries in the war in Ukraine this will be their direct participation and this of course will significantly change the very essence the very nature of the conflict this will mean that NATO countries the US and European countries are at war with Russia and if this is so meaning the essence of the conflict changed we will take the respective decisions corresponding to the threats we are facing well he made those comments as prime minister K starma flew to to Washington to discuss the issue with the US presidents our Moscow correspondent Iva Bennett is in the Russian Capital tonight good to see you Iva is this very significant or is it all rhetoric that's always the question isn't it with Vladimir Putin I think it's certainly fair to say that these are his most hawkish comments to date on this topic and that's really saying something because whenever he brings it up it provokes a very angry response indeed it's not just his words that are angry but but also his Expressions his mannerisms it really feels like it's personal to him and a and a red line if the West does give Ukraine this permission to use longrange missiles deeper inside Russia which is why I think this is actually more than just rhetoric the key line tonight was uh that the West would be in a direct fight with Russia if they give this green light to KI um and his reasoning is that it wouldn't just be the weapons and permission the West would be supplying to Ukraine it would also be the satellite um Comm Communications to to identify targets it would be the operational aspect around the weapons that's his claim and hence why he says that NATO would be actively participating in any long range strikes um and if that happens he said that Russia would be forced to take appropriate decisions he didn't spell out however what those would be uh President Biden and sakama meeting in the next few hours uh what do you think the response from them and indeed the West will be well they're going to be watching this very very closely of course And discussing it tomorrow I think um they they knew they would be an angry response for sure from Vladimir Putin I think that's what why they've kind of held back until now and not taken the plunge and and given permission they've been waiting to see what Vladimir Putin would say and wearing things up um how we've got to this point is because according to the US and the UK that the equation has changed on the battlefield they claim that Iran has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles to use on the battlefield they've called it a dramatic escalation which is why they're considering a response and I think it's just worth reminding our our viewers what US Secretary of State Anthony blinken told this program earlier this week it's not simply saying oh should they have this weapon system or that weapon system there are a lot of things that go into it do they know how to use it and some of these sophisticated systems take training and that's one of the other things we've done can they maintain it because if you give them something that falls apart in 7 days because it can't be maintained that doesn't do a lot of it and then is it part of a coherent strategy to achieve a very clear objective all of those things have to go into these decisions but what I can tell you is we've adapted and adjusted every step along the way we'll continue to do that so not ruling out at this stage we we don't we never rule out but when we when we rule in we want to make sure it's it's it's done in such a way that it can advance what the ukrainians are trying to achieve so will the West Risk Russia's wrath I think tomorrow Joe Biden K summer will be wearing up what Russia's response will be what those appropriate decision will will be will Vladimir Putin follow through on that previous threat he's made um about arming the West's enemies to strike Western targets abroad will he follow through on any of those numerous nuclear threats the bottom line is things are very delicately poised indeed