ANKARA — US decision to allow Kyiv to deploy its long-range missiles for strikes inside Russia is “a move aimed at fueling the war,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.
“It appears to be a move aimed at fueling the war, ensuring it does not end, and even encouraging its spread,” Erdogan told reporters on his flight back to Turkey from Brazil, where he attended the Group of 20 summit, according to a report by semi-official Anadolu Agency.
“We do not consider it a right decision, nor do we approve of it,” he added.
Calling the US decision a provocative action that could push the world closer to a large-scale conflict, Erdogan said “even the smallest mistake in such circumstances is akin to throwing fire into a barrel of gunpowder. Therefore, I advise everyone to act carefully.”
“This mindset of ‘after me, the deluge’ will lead us nowhere,” he added, Xinhua news agency reported.
In a major shift of his administration’s policy on the Ukraine crisis, US President Joe Biden had authorised Kyiv to use US-supplied long-range missiles, or the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), to strike targets inside Russia, US media reported on Sunday.
The White House or the Pentagon has not yet confirmed the decision.
Late on Tuesday, the Ukrainian Armed Forces reportedly fired six US ATACMS ballistic missiles at Russia’s Bryansk region.