The United States Gives The Patriot System To Ukraine, President Putin: We Will Destroy

President Vladimir Putin gave a briefing to Russian military officials. (Source: Kremlin)

JAKARTA - Russia will easily paralyze the US Patriot air defense system that will be supplied to the Kiev regime, President Vladimir Putin told the media on Thursday.

"They said they could supply the Patriots there (to Ukraine) soon. All right, hopefully they will continue. We will paralyze the Patriots. So something else must be provided as a replacement for the Patriots. A new system must be developed. This is a long process. And not simple," he said, launching TASS December 23.

President Putin stressed that the resources of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries will not be exhausted.

"The problem is different. Ukraine received weapons from the former countries of the Warsaw Agreement, mostly made in Soviets. These weapons are almost exhausted. We have destroyed almost everything there. There are several dozen armored vehicles. Okay, hundreds. We have destroyed large numbers. This is true. The source of this equipment is running out," he explained.

President Putin believes that the possibility of Kyiv switching to NATO weapons looks doubtful.

"It's not easy to switch to a new weapon system, including a NATO-style one. Preparations must be made and personnel trained. Equipment of spare parts must be sufficient. Equipment must undergo maintenance and repair. questions. It won't be easy," President Putin said.

In addition, there are questions about the complex capabilities of the defense industry of Western countries.

"That's right, it's big in the United States. It can be improved. But it's also not easy there, because you need to allocate additional money for this, and it's a matter of determining resources as part of the budget process. It's not that simple," said President Putin.

President Putin further explained that Moscow is really counting everything supplied to Ukraine, how many weapons are available and what Ukraine can produce itself and when.

"If we have our capabilities, our reserves and others, we will issue them too. This is understandable. I will not mention the statistics that show how many bullets we use per day. That's a big number," he said.

As previously reported, the United States will provide additional military assistance worth US$1.85 billion or around Rp. 28,750,665,000,000 to Ukraine, including the transfer of Patriot Air Defense Systems, said President Joe Biden and Foreign Minister Antony Blinken on Wednesday, despite Russia's opposition to the provision of such assistance.

The announcement came when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington to meet President Biden and address the US Congress on his first known overseas trip since Russia invaded Ukraine 300 days ago.

"Today's aid for the first time includes Patriot Air Defense Systems, which are capable of dropping cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles and aircraft, at much higher altitudes than previously provided air defense systems," Foreign Minister Blinken said in a statement released by the State Department., as quoted by Reuters.

Patriots are considered one of the most advanced US air defense systems and offer protection against aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles. This usually includes launchers along with radars and other supporting vehicles.