Russia says U.S., NATO weapon transports in Ukraine are legitimate targets

(Reuters) – Russia will view U.S. and NATO vehicles transporting weapons on Ukrainian territory as legitimate military targets, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the TASS news agency in an interview on Wednesday.

Any attempts by the West to inflict significant damage on Russia’s military or its separatist allies in Ukraine will be “harshly suppressed,” he added.

“We are warning that US-NATO weapons transports across Ukrainian territory will be considered by us as legal military targets,” TASS quoted Ryabkov as saying.

“We are making the Americans and other Westerners understand that attempts to slow down our special operation, to inflict maximum damage on Russian contingents and formations of the DPR and LPR (Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics) will be harshly suppressed,” he said.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Conor Humphries and Hugh Lawson)