*If long-range rocket systems are supplied to Kiev, Russia will strike faculties that are unaffected, he said
All the fuss over additional arms deliveries to Kiev pursues the sole goal of stretching out the armed conflict in Ukraine as long as possible, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday.
“In my view, all this fuss over additional deliveries of armaments generally pursues the sole objective of stretching out the armed conflict as long as possible,” Putin said in a fragment of his interview with reporter Pavel Zarubin for the program Moscow. Kremlin.
The head of state thus commented on the deliveries of US rocket systems to Kiev.
The deliveries of US multiple launch rocket systems to Ukraine changes nothing since Kiev previously had an inventory of these armaments, including rockets of this range, and is simply replenishing its stock, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday.
“There is nothing new about that,” the head of state said in an interview with reporter Pavel Zarubin for the program Moscow. Kremlin.
The Russian leader thus responded to a request to assess the decision on such deliveries.
“These are all multiple launch rocket systems and the Ukrainian army operates similar Soviet-and Russia-made Grad, Smerch and Uragan rocket systems,” Putin said.
The Russian leader pointed out that the range ‘depended on rockets that are used and not on the system itself.
“What we hear today and what we understand, these are rockets that fly to a distance of 45-70 km depending on the rocket type.
“The same is true about Grad, Uragan and Smerch rocket systems that I spoke about.
“They also have the range of 40-70 km and there is nothing new about that.
This is why, these deliveries by the United States and some other countries can only be related to the intention to help Kiev make up for the losses of its combat hardware,” Putin said.
If long-range rocket systems are supplied to Kiev, Russia will draw conclusions and strike those faculties that currently remain unaffected, Putin said.
“If it now comes to rockets and they are supplied, we will draw conclusions from that and employ our weapons that we have in sufficient quantities to strike those facilities that we are not attacking so far,” he warned.
The US administration announced on June 1 that it would provide a new military aid package to Ukraine that would include the delivery of HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) weapons and ammunition.
It said that the first batch would include four rocket systems.
US officials earlier said that the strike range of a light HIMARS wheeled rocket launcher would not exceed 80 km.
As the US administration insisted, Kiev gave assurances that the US rocket systems would not be used against targets on Russian territory.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on June 2 that Kiev’s assurances to the effect that it would not use US rockets against targets on Russian territory were worthless and could not be trusted.
