Russia said it would consider Ukrainian strikes on transport infrastructure using German Taurus long-range missiles as Berlin's "direct involvement" in the conflict.
The warning came after Germany's caretaker chancellor Friedrich Mertz said he was ready to deliver them to Kiev.
"A Taurus strike on any Russian object of critical transport infrastructure... all of this will be seen as Germany's direct participation in hostilities," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
On April 14, the Kremlin issued a similar warning to Berlin, saying the Taurus deliveries risked further escalation of the more than three-year-old conflict.
Outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz ruled out sending the missiles to Kiev, but on 13 April Merz said he was open to the idea provided Germany coordinated it with its European partners.
Britain has already announced that it would support Germany if it decided to send the missiles.
Russia has long criticized Western countries for supplying long-range weapons to Ukraine, claiming Kiev uses them to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.
Both the US and the UK have supplied long-range missiles to Ukraine. | BGNES
