As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was getting ready to handle Congress, Russia warned that growing army help to the beleaguered nation would solely irritate the 10-month battle.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov advised reporters at an earlier press briefing in Moscow that the enlargement of Western weapon provides to Ukraine “results in an aggravation of the battle and, in actual fact, doesn’t bode nicely for Ukraine.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, heart, speaks as Russian Protection Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and Chief of the Normal Workers Gen. Valery Gerasimov attend a gathering with senior army officers in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022.
(Sergey Fadeichev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Picture by way of AP)
Requested whether or not Zelenskyy’s go to to Washington might result in potential peace talks with Russia, Peskov mentioned: “I don’t suppose so.”
His feedback had been the primary official Russian response to information that Zelenskyy was heading to Washington – the president’s first identified international journey since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion triggered a warfare that has killed 1000’s and laid waste to cities and cities throughout Ukraine.
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Zelenskyy met with President Joe Biden in Washington Wednesday, the place U.S. officers introduced an enormous new army help bundle for Kyiv. He later addressed Congress, the place he thanked U.S. leaders and “abnormal Individuals” for his or her help in preventing off the invaders and pressed for added help.
Biden mentioned the U.S. and Ukraine would proceed to mission a “united protection” as Russia wages a “brutal assault on Ukraine’s proper to exist as a nation.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks throughout a joint information convention with U.S. President Joe Biden (not pictured) within the East Room of the White Home in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022.
(REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
The huge $1.8 billion bundle contains for the primary time a Patriot missile battery and precision guided bombs for fighter jets, U.S. officers mentioned.
Talking throughout a gathering together with his high army brass, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned Moscow would take classes realized within the battle to “develop our armed forces and strengthen the potential of our troops.”
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He mentioned particular emphasis would go to growing nuclear forces, which he described as “the principle assure of Russia’s sovereignty.”
Putin additionally mentioned the Russian army’s new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile will enter service shortly. The Sarmat is meant to exchange getting older Soviet-built ballistic missiles and type the core of Russia’s nuclear forces.
A neighborhood resident walks subsequent to a home destroyed in a Russian shelling in Kramatorsk, Ukraine.
(AP Picture/Andriy Andriyenko)
In the meantime, Protection Minister Sergei Shoigu mentioned the beefed-up Russian army will embody 695,000 volunteer contract troopers, 521,000 of whom ought to be recruited by the tip of 2023. The Russian army had about 400,000 contract troopers as a part of its 1-million-member army earlier than the preventing in Ukraine started.
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He additionally mentioned Russia would type new items within the nation’s west in view of ambitions by Finland and Sweden to hitch NATO.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
