Photo: VCG

 
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the US that supplies of long-range missiles to Ukraine would seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington but would not alter the situation on the battlefield where the Russian army is making slow but steady advances, ABC News reported.

The potential supply of US Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kiev will signal a "qualitatively new stage of escalation, including in relations between Russia and the US," Putin said at a forum of foreign policy experts in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The Russian leader noted that even though Tomahawk missiles will inflict damage on Russia if supplied to Ukraine, Russian air defenses will quickly adapt to the new threat. "It will certainly not change the balance of force on the battlefield," he added, emphasizing that the Russian military is continuously making gains against Ukraine.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Putin's remarks, the ABC News reported. 

At the same time, Putin hailed US President Donald Trump's efforts to help negotiate peace in Ukraine and described their August summit in Alaska as productive. 

While praising Trump and trying to emphasize potential common interests, including nuclear arms control, the Russian president sent a stern warning to Ukraine's Western allies against trying to seize ships that carry Russian oil to global energy markets. He argued that would amount to piracy and could trigger a forceful response while sharply destabilizing the global oil market.

Also, Putin has hit back at the US president for calling Russia a "paper tiger." US President Donald Trump labeled Russia a "paper tiger" during his address to the United Nations recently. 

US president's recent description of Russia as a "paper tiger" may have been used "ironically," Putin has conjectured, RT reported.

"Well, if we are fighting with the entire NATO bloc, we are moving, advancing, and we feel confident, and we are a 'paper tiger', then what is NATO itself?" he said, according to ABC News.

At the forum, Putin also reiterated Russia's confidence in its nuclear shield, saying that if the US does not need an extension of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), then Russia does not need it, either, TASS reported.