Sergei Chemezov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, says the United States and its Western allies risk triggering a global war if Washington continues to "provoke" the conflict in Ukraine and allow Kyiv to attack Russian territory.
His remarks offer a rare insight into thinking in Putin's inner circle following a surprise Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk region, to which the president has promised a "worthy" response but has not yet said what that will entail.
Chemezov, CEO of the Rostec corporation which supplies many of Russia's arms for the war, said Russia felt confident and had enough weapons more than two years into what the Kremlin calls its special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine.