Russian President Putin answered wide-ranging questions from Western journalists for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine. He did this at Gazprom’s headquarters in St. Petersburg. The city currently hosts the International Economic Forum, an annual Russian event aimed at attracting foreign capital.

In the interview, Putin described the use of German weapons on Russian territory as a “dangerous step.” He added: “If they now use missiles to attack facilities on Russian territory, this will completely destroy Russian-German relations.” “Russia, in turn, could provide long-range weapons to others to attack Western targets,” he later said.

Last week, Germany granted Ukraine permission to use German weapons on Russian territory. A day earlier, it was announced that US President Biden had also secretly given Ukraine permission to use US weapons on Russian territory. In both cases, it only concerns Russian targets near the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, which is close to the Russian border.

The Ukrainian army launched a counterattack north of that city. Experts believe that Western weapons were used.

Putin also spoke about the potential impact of the US election results on the relationship between the two superpowers. Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in the United States next November.

The Russian President said that he does not expect significant change in the relationship between Russia and the United States, regardless of whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump is the winner. “We will work with whatever president the American people choose.”

Among the guests were journalists from the world’s largest news agencies, such as Reuters, Associated Press (AP), Agence France-Presse (AFP) and the German Press Agency (DPA).

Last February, Tucker Carlson, the controversial American broadcaster and opinion maker, once interviewed Putin. In the non-critical interview, the Russian President mainly repeated what he said earlier about the situation in Ukraine.