Lavrov: US told via diplomatic channels that it will not send Patriot missile defence specialists to Ukraine
The United States has explained at length through diplomatic channels that it was not planning to send specialists along with Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Channel One’s Big Game program.
“We asked the Americans through the channels that our embassy still has, whether the decision to hand over the Patriot battery, given the difficulty in using it, meant that there would be American specialists there. It was explained to us in a rather lengthy way that this is not planned, precisely because the Americans do not want and will not fight directly against Russia,” said the head of the Foreign Ministry.
According to the United States, Patriot complexes will be put into operation gradually – over several months, until the AFU has mastered the technology, the minister added.
Patriot is one of the key elements of the US Army’s integrated air and missile defence system.
There are various versions of the systems with ranges from 30 to 160 kilometres, as well as modifications specifically designed to intercept ballistic missiles.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington, where he met with the head of the White House and congressional leadership. His visit was timed to coincide with the announcement of a new $1.85 billion US military aid package for Ukraine, which includes a Patriot SAM battery.
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The Pentagon, for its part, ruled out sending American calculations to Ukraine and promised to train Ukrainians in a few months.
As President Vladimir Putin stressed, the Russian army will be able to “snap Patriot as well”. He also called the supply of these systems to the Kiev regime a prolongation of the conflict and added he said that “there will always be an antidote”.
Since the start of the special operation in Ukraine, the West has imposed massive sanctions against Russia and ramped up supplies of arms and military equipment worth billions of dollars to the Kiev regime. Moscow has repeatedly stated that such military aid only prolongs the conflict, while the transport of weapons becomes a legitimate target for the Russian air force. Presidential press secretary Dmitriy Peskov noted that pumping Ukraine with weapons would have a negative effect.
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