The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin has asserted that foreign-made tanks are a ‘priority target’ for Russian forces in Ukraine also submitting that the supply of Western weaponry to Kyiv will not change the course of the war.
Putin, in comments to state television monitored by Africa Today News, New York, also reiterated its earlier position that Ukraine’s membership in NATO would threaten Russia’s security while the provision of Western arms had only escalated global tensions further and prolonged the conflict.
When quizzed about France’s decision to supply Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles, which can travel 250km (155 miles), Putin said: ‘Yes, they cause damage, but nothing critical happens in the war zone with their use.’
The Russian leader added that foreign-made tanks were ‘a priority target for our guys’.
Putin’s remarks coincided with US President Joe Biden’s assertion on Thursday that Russia has already lost the conflict in Ukraine. Biden also voiced optimism that Moscow would agree to negotiations as a result of the ongoing, albeit sluggish, counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces.
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Biden told a press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in Helsinki that; ‘Putin’s already lost the war. Putin has a real problem’.
‘There is no possibility of him winning the war in Ukraine,’ he said.
Biden also used his visit to Finland, NATO’s newest member, to pledge that Ukraine would one day join the alliance, despite NATO leaders failing to give Kyiv a membership timeline at a summit of the Western military alliance this week in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. NATO leaders had dashed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hopes for a clear path to joining NATO, saying that Ukraine would join when “conditions are met”.
Biden was more positive about Ukraine’s NATO membership on Thursday.
‘It’s not about whether or not they should or shouldn’t join. It’s about when they can join, and they will join NATO,’ Biden said of Ukraine.
Putin’s comments on targeting Western tanks and warning on growing military assistance to Kyiv were his first public response to the remarks made at the NATO summit. He also reiterated Moscow’s strong opposition to Ukraine ever joining the defence bloc, saying this would threaten Russia’s own strategic interests.
‘This will not increase the security of Ukraine itself. And in general, it will make the world much more vulnerable,’ Putin said.
Any country has the right to improve its security, Putin added, but not at another country’s expense.