Exclusive-Putin ally Chemezov says West risks global war over Ukraine

FILE PHOTO: CEO of Rostec state corporation Sergei Chemezov attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, December 28, 2023. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via REUTERS/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - 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 to Reuters 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.