Vladimir Putin has called the US delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Kyiv “another mistake by the United States” in his first public comments since an unprecedented Ukrainian strike destroyed helicopters at two airfields in Russian-occupied territory this week.
The Russian president also claimed that the delivery of the army tactical missile system (ATACMS) missiles, which can strike targets more than 100 miles away and deliver salvoes with cluster munitions, would “not do Ukraine any good either. It will simply prolong [their] agony.”
Yet the missiles have struck one of the worst blows against Russian aviation since Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, despite warnings from military experts and bloggers that Russia’s forward military bases could be at risk from newly provided American weapons. The strikes could force Russia to pull back its attack aircraft from the frontlines of the conflict.
“War is war,” Putin said on Wednesday. “And, of course, I have said that [ATACMS] pose a threat. It goes without saying. But what counts most is that they are completely unable to drastically change the situation along the line of contact. It’s impossible.”
Russia had earlier warned the US away from providing the ATACMS missiles, which Ukraine and the US both confirmed this week had recently been delivered to Kyiv. Ukraine used the missiles to strike airbases in Russian-held Berdiansk and the Luhansk region on Monday evening.
Ukraine said it had destroyed nine Russian military helicopters, an anti-aircraft missile system and an ammunition warehouse. The president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, announced that the strike had used ATACMS missiles, which he said had “proven themselves”, and the strikes were “executed very accurately”.
Putin on Wednesday said the US was now “more deeply involved” in the war in Ukraine. He also announced that a limited number of Russian fighters armed with hypersonic missiles would be deployed to the Black Sea in response to a US deployment of two carrier strike groups to the coast of Israel, amid fears of a larger regional war.
“I have warned that this is not a threat, yet we will exercise visual control, weapon control over what is going on in the Mediterranean Sea,” Putin said.
Putin made the remarks at a summit during the Belt and Road forum in Beijing, his first trip outside the former Soviet Union countries since the international criminal court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against him for the unlawful abduction of Ukrainian children, which it called a “war crime”.
Putin also hit out at Joe Biden, whom Zelenskiy had credited personally for the delivery of the missiles.
“If Russia has lost the war, why supply ATACMS?” Putin asked rhetorically. “Let [the US] take ATACMS back, along with every other weapon. Let [Biden] sit down and eat pancakes, let him come here for tea.” He made the remarks as he courted the Chinese president, Xi Jingping, saying the two had discussed “private matters … over a cup of tea”.
Washington was initially reluctant to provide the missiles, fearing that they would escalate the conflict past what Russia had called a “red line”. But Biden last month committed in a private meeting with Zelenskiy to transfer a small number of the weapons, US media have reported, after already announcing deliveries to Ukraine of cluster munitions.
Photographs from the Berdiansk airfield suggested the missiles were probably carrying M74 submunitions, small bomblets carried by older versions of ATACMS. Ukraine had reportedly committed not to strike targets in Russia as a condition for receiving the missiles.
In his remarks, Putin claimed that western officials had hinted at greater readiness to hold negotiations over Ukraine, in particular the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, but demanded “more practical steps”.
“Foreign policy officials, who said a short time ago that a strategic defeat should be inflicted on Russia on the battlefield, are now talking differently,” Putin said. “They say these problems should be solved through peace talks. This is the correct transformation.”
