Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the US delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Kyiv “another mistake by the United States,” as Washington and its Western allies ramp up arms deliveries to Ukraine.
The Russian president at a summit in Beijing said on Wednesday that the delivery of the army tactical missile system (ATACMS) missiles would “not do Ukraine any good either. It will simply prolong [their] agony.”
The missiles can strike targets more than 100 miles away and deliver salvoes with cluster munitions.
The Russian president said, however, that they would not significantly change the situation on the front.
“War is war,” Putin said. “And, of course, I have said that [ATACMS] pose a threat. It goes without saying. But what counts most is that they are completely unable to drastically change the situation along the line of contact. It’s impossible.”
Several US media outlets reported that Ukraine had used ATACMS missiles in an overnight attack on Tuesday on two airbases in eastern Ukraine.
Some military experts and bloggers have warned that Russia’s forward military bases could be at risk from newly provided American weapons. The strikes could force Russia to pull back its attack aircraft from the frontlines of the conflict.
Russia had earlier warned the US away from providing the ATACMS missiles, which Ukraine and the US both confirmed this week had recently been delivered to Kyiv.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, announced that the strike had used ATACMS missiles, which he said had “proven themselves”, and the strikes were “executed very accurately”.
Putin hits out at Biden for ATACMS, deployment of US carriers near Israel
Putin also hit out at Joe Biden, whom Zelenskiy had credited personally for the delivery of the missiles.
“If Russia has lost the war, why supply ATACMS?” Putin asked rhetorically. “Let [the US] take ATACMS back, along with every other weapon. Let [Biden] sit down and eat pancakes, let him come here for tea.”
In his remarks, Putin said the US was now “more deeply involved” in the war in Ukraine. He also announced that a limited number of Russian fighters armed with hypersonic missiles would be deployed to the Black Sea in response to a US deployment of two carrier strike groups in support of Israel.
“I have warned that this is not a threat, yet we will exercise visual control, weapon control over what is going on in the Mediterranean Sea,” Putin said.
Western officials ready to hold negotiations over Ukraine
Elsewhere, Putin said that Western officials had hinted at greater readiness to hold negotiations over Ukraine, in particular the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, but demanded “more practical steps.”
“Foreign policy officials, who said a short time ago that a strategic defeat should be inflicted on Russia on the battlefield, are now talking differently,” Putin said. “They say these problems should be solved through peace talks. This is the correct transformation.”
In his remarks, Putin said that Western officials had hinted at greater readiness to hold negotiations over Ukraine, in particular the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, but demanded “more practical steps”.
“Foreign policy officials, who said a short time ago that a strategic defeat should be inflicted on Russia on the battlefield, are now talking differently,” Putin said. “They say these problems should be solved through peace talks. This is the correct transformation.”
Senior officials in Moscow have accused the West of becoming directly involved in the Ukraine war by supplying the country with weapons and training its soldiers.
Russia says the operation in Ukraine has been in order to defend the pro-Russia population in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk against alleged persecution by Kiev. Ever since the war began, Kiev’s allies, led by the United States and Britain, have been supplying Ukraine with weapons, a step that Russia says would prolong the conflict.
