Putin Admits Ukraine's U.S.-Supplied ATACMS Pose Threat

Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted that U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) pose a threat to Russia in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Ukraine used ATACMS for the first time in a strike on military bases in the Russian-occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk on Tuesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. officials later confirmed that an unspecified number of the missiles had recently been sent to Ukraine in secret.

Putin commented on the development during a press conference on Wednesday following a visit with Chinese President Jinping Xi in China, where the two leaders discussed topics that included the war in Ukraine and the escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Russian president said that the U.S. had made a "mistake" in supplying ATACMS to Ukraine. He admitted that the missiles "obviously" posed a threat to Moscow's military but insisted that it was "impossible" that they could tilt the course of the war in Ukraine's favor.

"[The supply of ATACMS] of course, causes harm and it poses an additional threat," Putin said. "We will, of course, be able to repel these attacks...They are a threat, it goes without saying. But most importantly, it is fundamentally unable to change the situation on the line of contact at all. Impossible. That's for sure."

"There is nothing good for Ukraine in this sense either—it simply prolongs the agony," he added. "The mistake of a larger, so far invisible nature... is that the United States is more and more personally drawn into this conflict."

Putin went on to rubbish President Joe Biden's claim that Russia had already "lost" the war to Ukraine, calling the claim "funny" and arguing that the U.S. supplying Kyiv with ATACMS was evidence that the conflict was far from over.

"If the war is lost by Russia, why supply ATACMS?" said Putin. "Let [the U.S.] take back ATACMS, all other weapons, [and President Biden] sits down for pancakes, comes to us for a tea party. If the war is lost, what are we talking about then? Why ATACMS? Ask them this question. That's funny."

Newsweek reached out for comment to the White House and the Russian Ministry of Defense via email on Wednesday.

The ATACMS sent to Ukraine have a maximum range of around 100 miles—shorter than variants capable of traveling up to 180 miles—and are equipped with cluster munitions, according to the Associated Press.

AP reported that long-range versions of the missiles were not made available due to "lingering U.S. concerns about escalating tensions with Russia."

Prior to the confirmation that Ukraine was in possession of ATACMS this week, Kyiv had repeatedly petitioned the U.S. to send the weapons.

Military analysts have suggested that the missiles could be a game changer in the war, although many of the past assessments were based on the assumption that Ukraine would receive the long-range variants.