Ukraine news latest — Putin fury as Russia threatens to ‘respond’ if West sends long-range weapons to help Kyiv’s army

RUSSIA has threatened to “respond” if the West sends long-range weapons to support Ukraine’s army. Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said the country’s forces would respond to the West’s involvement and will try to to push Ukrainian forces further away from its borders to create a buffer zone, Reuters reports. In an interview on Russia’s state TV, Lavrov said everybody wanted the conflict to end, but that the West’s support for Kyiv was playing an important role. It comes as madman Vladimir Putin is thought to be amassing at least half a million soldiers for a new assault in the Ukraine war – with Ukraine’s defence minister warning Russia could “try something” to mark the anniversary of the initial invasion. Mr Oleksii Reznikov said: “Officially they announced 300,000 but when we see the troops at the borders, according to our assessments it is much more.” Read our Ukraine war blog below for the latest news…