In its first reaction to widespread reports that the White House is moving forward
with plans to send Patriot anti-air missile defense systems to Ukraine,
the Kremlin said the move will only serve to aggravate the conflict and
warned against it, while Putin in new remarks teased more advanced
Russian weapons to be deployed, including hypersonic missiles.
"Weapon supplies (by the U.S.) continue, the assortment of supplied weapons is expanding. All this, of course, leads to an aggravation of the conflict and, in fact, does not bode well for Ukraine," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Patriot missile batteries, US Army file image.
A
formal White House announcement confirming that Ukraine will get
Patriots is expected Wednesday while Ukraine's President Volodymyr
Zelensky is meeting with President Biden to discuss the war, and ahead
of Zelensky's expected 7:30pm EST address to Congress.
Ukraine
sees the more advanced anti-air defenses as vital if it hopes to survive
the now constant barrage of strikes targeting its national energy
infrastructure, which has left millions without power amid freezing
temperatures. At one point early this week, some 80% of the Kyiv region
was without power, as rolling emergency blackouts continue nation-wide.
The Patriot missiles could be a game-changer
given they have a maximum range of some 100 miles and are capable of
downing ballistic missiles. Zelensky has long demanded that the US and
NATO help "close the skies" over Ukraine.
