© Reuters. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks at a joint meeting of the United States Congress in the House of Representatives Chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
2/5
By Steve Holland and Pavel Polityuk
WASHINGTON/KYIV (Reuters) – The U.S. delivery of advanced Patriot missile systems to Ukraine, announced during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to Washington, will not help resolve the conflict or prevent Russia from achieving it. its goals, Moscow said on Thursday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters there was no sign of readiness for peace talks during Zelenskiy’s visit, demonstrating that the United States is waging a proxy war with Russia “to the people.” Ukraine at last”.
“This is not conducive to a quick solution, quite the contrary,” Peskov said of the Patriot system. “And this cannot prevent the Russian Federation from achieving its goals in a special military operation,” using the Russian term for a war in which tens of thousands of people were killed.
Zelenskiy told Congress on Wednesday that U.S. aid to his country is an investment in democracy as he invoked the wars against Nazi Germany in World War II to pressure support. more aid in the war against Russia.
Zelenskiy said the Patriot system was an important step in creating the air shield.
“This is the only way that we can deprive the terrorist state of its main tool of terror – our ability to attack our cities, our energy,” Zelenskiy said at a press conference in Washington. White House, standing next to President Joe Biden.
Zelenskiy’s comments in Washington come as Republicans – some of whom have increasingly expressed skepticism about sending too much aid to Ukraine – prepare to wrest control of the US House of Representatives from Democrats on Sunday. January 3.
Parliament is about to pass emergency military and economic assistance worth $44.9 billion, in addition to the $50 billion sent to Ukraine this year as Europe’s biggest land conflict since World War II. The second war dragged on.
The United States announced another $1.85 billion in military aid to Ukraine, including a Patriot system.
“We want more Patriots… we are at war,” Zelenskiy told reporters.
The Ukrainian leader on Thursday said he had met Polish President Andrzej Duda on his way home from his first foreign trip since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
Poland – which shares a roughly 500 km (310 mi) border with Ukraine – has registered more than 1.5 million refugees from its eastern neighbor since the war began, the most of any country. member of the European Union.
Russia says it has conducted a “special military operation” in Ukraine to eliminate nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities. Ukraine and the West describe Russia’s actions as a gratuitous war of aggression.
‘RUSSIA MUST LOSE’
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Washington had seen no indication that Russian President Vladimir Putin was willing to participate in the reconciliation process.
Zelenskiy’s aide, Mykhailo Podolyak, said the US “finally pinpointed the baseline” in the conflict.
“1. Russia must lose. 2. There is no ‘territory in exchange for fake/world compromises’. 3. Ukraine will receive all necessary military aid. As much as possible. 4. No one cares. mind the Russian ‘talk to us’ hysteria…,” he wrote on Twitter.
Ukraine has been subjected to repeated Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure in recent weeks, leaving millions without electricity or running water during the deadly winter.
Zelenskiy congratulated electrical workers on working around the clock, trying to keep the lights on as they mark Electrical Engineers Day on Thursday, the day after the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year.
“Even if the enemy can temporarily leave us without light, they will never succeed in leaving us without a desire to make things right. mount and restore to normal,” he said on Telegram. “…Together we will overcome all darkness.”
TASS news agency earlier quoted Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov as saying that Zelenskiy’s visit to the US confirmed Washington’s statements about not wanting to conflict with Russia.
Moscow claims to have annexed four Ukrainian provinces – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – after holding a so-called referendum in September that was dismissed by Kiev and the West as bogus.
Russian forces control almost all of Luhansk, but only about 60% of Donetsk, both in the east. Since August, they have been mired in a costly and protracted battle for Bakhmut, an industrial town in the Donetsk region with a pre-war population of about 70,000.
Russia’s Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov on Thursday said the front line in Ukraine was stable and that Russian forces were focused on “completing the liberation of the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic”.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited military units that are fighting in Ukraine, state news agency RIA reported on Thursday, citing the ministry. It doesn’t say where.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy chief of staff to the president of Ukraine, said one person was killed and two wounded on Thursday during a Russian shelling of the town of Chasiv Yar, in the Bakhmut region.
