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Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned Thursday that if the United States confirms reports that it plans to deliver sophisticated air defense missiles to Ukraine, it would be another provocative move by the U.S. that could prompt a response from Moscow.
Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a weekly briefing Thursday that the U.S. has effectively become a party to the war in Ukraine, following reports that it will provide Kyiv with Patriot surface-to-air missiles, the most advanced the West has yet provided to help Ukraine’s military repel Russian aerial attacks.
Zakharova added that growing amounts of U.S. military assistance, including the transfer of such sophisticated weapons, „would mean even broader involvement of military personnel in the hostilities and could entail possible consequences. She did not specify what the consequences might be.
U.S. officials said Tuesday that Washington was poised to approve sending a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, finally agreeing to an urgent request from Ukrainian leaders desperate for more robust weapons to shoot down incoming Russian missiles that have crippled much of the country’s vital infrastructure. An official announcement is expected soon.
A Patriot battery can need as many as 90 troops to operate and maintain it, and for months the U.S. was reluctant to provide the complex system because sending forces into Ukraine to operate it is a non-starter for the administration of President Joe Biden.
Yet concerns remain that even without the presence of U.S. servicemen to train Ukrainians on how to use the system, deployment of the missiles could provoke Russia or risk that a fired projectile could end up hitting inside Russia, further escalating the conflict.
