Factories in Europe producing arms for Ukraine are legitimate and potential military targets for Russia, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says.
Zakharova told a press briefing that European countries were directly involved in the conflict through their military support for Ukraine, adding that such activity delayed a resolution to the war.
She was responding to a question about Poland's apparent readiness to host a factory producing Patriot interceptor missiles for Ukraine.
The NATO military alliance and many European countries say they will continue to do everything they can to support Ukraine and help it push back Russian forces and shoot down drones and missiles.
"Weapons factories in European countries that produce arms for Ukraine are potential military targets for Russia, and one should not assume that military factories outside Ukrainian territory which produce weapons for the Kyiv regime will be safe. Anyone who thinks so is mistaken," Zakharova said.
"European countries are directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict.
"They are not merely providing aid. By opening arms factories and joint ventures, they are fully involved. And this only delays a resolution to the conflict rather than bringing it closer, as some forces in Europe think or imagine," she added.
Earlier on Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said there was no imminent threat to the alliance's territory from Russia after the Kremlin issued a warning over the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
The threat assessment regarding Russia was unchanged from three weeks, three months and a year ago, Rutte said, despite the warning sent to NATO by Russia in a document seen by Reuters.
In the document, Russia said it would be ready to resort to nuclear weapons if NATO attempted to cut off the territory, which is on the Baltic Sea sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania.
NATO reacted with "a bit of calm," Rutte said.
"Basically what we said is: 'Hey, listen, we are defensive alliance and stop the nuclear threat'," he said at an event held by Euronews in Brussels.
If Russia wanted to act against Finland, one of the Baltic countries, Poland or any other NATO country, it would be preceded by a military build-up, Rutte added.
He underlined the United States would stay involved in defending Europe by conventional and nuclear means.
Meanwhile NATO would continue what it was doing, namely supporting Ukraine and investing in its defence, he said.
He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear to be interested in negotiating to end the war in Ukraine.
"It takes two to tango," he said.
"So far, it doesn't seem that Vladimir Putin is willing to tango when it comes to a peace deal."
Australian Associated Press
