Russian government’s press service says that concluding his working visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday answered questions from Russian journalists.
Concerning the issue of the supply of the US long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, Putin said that this is of course a harmful development and creates an additional threat.
“Second, we can fend off these attacks, make no mistake about that. War is war, and I did say that they pose a threat. This is rather obvious. What matters the most here is that this cannot bring about any radical changes along the line of contact. It is impossible. This we can say for sure.”
According to Putin, this is yet another mistake on the part of the United States.
“First, if they did not supply weapons, they would be able to say in the future: “Had we supplied everything we could, the situation would have changed, but this would have led to more unnecessary casualties. Good for us – we did not do that.” But they did, and there will be no effect. This is a mistake for this reason alone.
“And, finally, Ukraine, in this sense, gains nothing either. This simply prolongs its agony. They have started yet another announced and expected counteroffensive in the Kherson sector – without any effect so far. Losses there are, but no result, like previously in Zaporozhye and other sectors. Therefore, this is also a mistake from this point of view.
“And, finally, a larger and highly significant, if so far imperceptible mistake is that the United States is becoming more directly involved in this conflict. It is becoming involved – this is an obvious thing. And let no one say that it has nothing to do with this. We believe it has. Plus, all of this is happening against the background of the Middle East conflict and exacerbating tensions.”
Putin noted that he had ordered fighter jets armed with hypersonic missiles to begin round-the-clock patrols over the Black Sea, ratcheting up tensions with the US amid the war in Ukraine and the spiraling crisis in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas.
He told reporters he had ordered MiG-31 aircraft armed with Kinzhal missiles that “have a range of more than 1,000 kilometers at a speed of Mach 9” to conduct permanent missions over neutral waters in the Black Sea.
“This is not a threat… Based on my instructions, the Russian Aerospace Forces will begin patrols on the permanent basis in the neutral zone of airspace over the Black Sea, and the MIG-31 aircraft will be armed with Kinzhal systems that have a range of more than 1000 kilometers at a speed of Mach 9,” Russian president said.
