Putin warns the West against sending weapons to Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin issued a new warning to the West against sending weapons to Ukraine.

The Russian president’s warning comes after his forces claimed to have destroyed Western military supplies.

The attack shows that Russia still has the ability and the will to attack the heart of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s new warning to the West against sending longer-range rocket systems to Ukraine came as his forces claimed to have destroyed Western military supplies in their first such airstrikes on Ukraine’s capital in more than one month, reported AP.

The attack showed that Russia still has the ability and the will to attack the heart of Ukraine, despite refocusing its efforts to capture territory in the east. Putin’s comments, in a television interview that aired on Sunday, came days after the United States announced plans to deliver $700 million in security assistance to Ukraine, including four medium-range precision-guided rocket systems, as well as helicopters, Javelin anti-tank systems, radars, tactical vehicles and more.

Putin threatens the West

Photo: AP

In the interview, Putin attacked the delivery of weapons from the West to Ukraine, assuring that its purpose is to prolong the war. «All this fuss about the additional delivery of weapons, in my opinion, has only one objective: to prolong the armed conflict as long as possible,» the president declared, according to the AP.

Putin insisted that such supplies were unlikely to change the military situation for Ukraine’s government, which he said was only compensating for the loss of similar rockets. If Kyiv receives longer-range rockets, he added, Moscow «will draw the appropriate conclusions and we will use our means of destruction, of which we have many, in order to attack those targets that we have not yet attacked.»

More countries unite against Russia

Photo: AP

The United States has refrained from offering Ukraine long-range weapons that could reach deep into Russian territory. But the four medium-range, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems included in the security package have mobile launchers that allow soldiers to quickly engage a target and move away, which could prove useful against Russian artillery in the battlefield.

Spanish newspaper El Pais reported on Sunday that Spain planned to supply Ukraine with anti-aircraft missiles and up to 40 Leopard 2 A4 main battle tanks. The Spanish Defense Ministry did not comment on the report.