The Russian government is cautioning the United States against providing Ukraine with a Patriot missile system following reports that the Biden administration is completing arrangements to transfer the weapons system as soon as this week.
“An information campaign has been launched in the U.S. about alleged preparations for sending cutting-edge air defense systems to [Kyiv],” read a statement issued from the Russian Embassy in Washington DC. “If this [information] is confirmed, we will witness yet another provocative step by the [US] administration that may lead to unpredictable consequences.”
With Russian missile and drone attacks hitting critical infrastructure across Ukraine, Kyiv has been pressing the Biden administration to deliver the Patriot missile system to intercept ballistic and cruise missiles.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly asked the United States and its NATO allies for more money, weaponry, and missile defense systems, according to the Associated Press.
“Held a meeting of the Stavka today,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address last Wednesday. “They talked, in particular, about the protection of the sky. We are constantly strengthening our anti-aircraft and anti-drone defenses. And we are doing everything to get more modern and more powerful systems for Ukraine. This week we have made important progress on the air defense issue.” (The article was written in Ukrainian and translated into English by Google Translate).
The Patriot missile system would be the most effective long-range defensive weapons system supplied to Ukraine since the beginning of the war in February, according to CNN.
Its long-range and high-altitude capabilities allow the Patriot missile system to knock down Russian missiles and planes far from their objectives in Ukraine.
Patriot batteries have been supplied to NATO partners like Poland to strengthen the alliance’s defenses. The system has also been sold to more than a dozen U.S. allies, including Germany, Japan, and Israel, CNN reported.
News of the possible delivery to Ukraine coincided with reports that dozens of countries and international organizations are pledging over 1 billion euros to power, feed, warm, and move Ukrainians as winter approaches, the Associated Press reported.
Still, as previously reported in The Dallas Express, some lawmakers are cautioning the Biden administration against making more financial commitments and weapons sales to Ukraine for fear of drawing the United States further into the conflict.
