Russia has slammed the west for feverishly pumping weapons into Ukraine to sabotage budding peace talks with Kyiv.
“Flooding Ukraine with weapons doesn’t contribute to the success of the Russian-Ukrainian talks. Instead, obviously, it will have a negative effect,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
Moscow’s accusation that the US-led west was anti-peace followed the passage of a legislation in the US Senate.
The bill revives a World War II-era land-lease programme. If it becomes law, it will open a new pipeline of weapons to Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba thanked senators for their support and said he was expecting a “swift passage” of the bill in the House of Representatives, Russia Today reported.
On Wednesday, the US announced that it will channel an additional $100 million to purchase Javelin shoulder-fired anti-tank missile systems in larger numbers.
The move is reminiscent of the what the Washington did, when it supported Islamist groups, in the so-called anti-Soviet Jihad in Afghanistan in the eighties. Instead of the Javelin missiles the Pentagon had armed the “Mujahideen” or holy warriors, with game-changing shoulder fired Stinger missiles. These weapons successfully targeted Soviet attack helicopters neutralising Moscow’s advantage over their rivals in the air.
#Ukraine: Big News- Slovakia has delivered their S-300PMU SAM battery to to UA: 8x Transport trucks/trailers, possibly for 5V55R missiles, 2x 5T58-2 missile transporters, 5P85DU TEL, 2x 40V6M mobile mast (for 76N6 Low Altitude Acquisition Radar) seen here.pic.twitter.com/TlArFLf3u4
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 8, 2022
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that 100 Switchblade kamikaze drones will also be delivered to Kiev. In the United States politicians such as Hillary Clinton have been advocating trapping the Russians in Ukraine, weakening the state, in a repeat of Afghanistan.
In order to beef up anti-Russian forces, NATO has also been sending Soviet-era tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.
The decision to widen the package of military support for Ukraine and explore new ways of sustaining the armed forces of Ukraine over the longer term was taken during the second International Defence Donor Conference for Ukraine hosted by the United Kingdom last week.
The conference brought together over 35 international partners to discuss the latest situation in Ukraine and the country’s most pressing requirements for "lethal and non-lethal" military aid.
"We are increasing our coordination to step-up that military support and ensure the Armed Forces of Ukraine grow stronger as they continue to repel Russian forces," UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace had said at the conference to secure military aid for Ukraine on March 31.
On Monday evening, during her speech at the British Embassy in Poland, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss also spoke about providing "more weapons of the type the Ukrainians are asking for" and stepping up efforts to stop Vladimir Putin's "appalling war" in Ukraine.
the US package to Ukraine includes laser-guided rocket systems; Switchblade Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems; Puma Unmanned Aerial Systems; Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems; Armoured High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles; Small-to-large calibre non standard ammunition; Night vision devices, thermal imagery systems, and optics; Tactical secure communications systems; Non-standard machine guns; Commercial satellite imagery services; Medical supplies, field equipment, and spare parts.
The full-spectrum war includes a heavy dose of economic warfare, built supposedly on “crippling sanctions” being imposed on Moscow. Information war, which includes banning prominent Russian news channels and websites, is also part of a 360-degree war.
"The Lend-Lease Act that Washington is about to pass might mark a new front line running along Ukraine's western border. From there, aid from the alliance and the US military will reach far into the country," retired colonel Nikolay Shulgin told Russian publication Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Anti-NATO protest today in Bulgaria 🇧🇬 against the supply of weapons to Ukraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/Xz9ZZXJW03
— Based Serbia (@SerbiaBased) April 6, 2022
The expert said that the Russian troops’ principal mission in these conditions will be to prevent such deliveries. For the Russian army, another key objective would be to swiftly defeat Ukrainian armed forces in Donbass, allowing Russia to declare the completion of combat in Ukraine.
The Russians have already declared their war objective: removing influence of the neo-Nazis in Ukraine, Ukraine’s military neutrality, and granting security guarantees to Ukraine, Europe and to Moscow itself.
"It is quite dangerous for Russia to become embroiled in long-term hostilities with the Ukrainian army, which will be supported to the greatest extent possible by the US, NATO, and other nations across the world," Shulgin cautioned.
