(Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that U.S. deliveries of long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine were a “mistake” that would create additional threats to Russian forces but would not significantly change the situation on the front.
“Firstly, this of course causes harm and creates an additional threat. Secondly, we will of course be able to repel these attacks. War is war,” Putin told a press conference during a visit to China.
“But most importantly, it fundamentally lacks the capacity to change the situation on the line of contact at all. That is impossible, this we can say for sure. This is another mistake by the United States, for several reasons at once.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed for the first time on Tuesday that Kyiv had started using long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) projectiles provided by the U.S.
Kyiv had repeatedly asked the U.S. administration for ATACMS in order to strengthen its ability to attack and disrupt supply lines, air bases and rail networks in Russian-occupied territory that were beyond the reach of shorter-range missiles.
(Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
