Russia Issues Dire Warning Over Ukraine's Fate if U.S. Delivers Weapons

Russia on Wednesday warned that deliveries of American weapons to Ukraine will lead to an escalation of the conflict in the war-torn country.

"The supply of arms [by Washington] continues, the range of supplied weapons is expanding. All this, of course, leads to an aggravation of the conflict and, in fact, this does not bode well for Ukraine," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Peskov was responding to a question about whether the Kremlin expects any negative consequences to come out from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the United States on Wednesday.

The Kremlin has repeatedly accused the United States and other members of the NATO military alliance of becoming involved in the conflict by sending Ukraine weapons, providing its troops with training, and assisting with military intelligence.

Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States, along with its NATO allies, had provided more than $40 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since the conflict began on February 24.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova separately issued a warning on December 15 over the proposed transfer of Patriot missile defense systems to Ukraine.

Zakharova, citing experts, said that possible deliveries of the systems from Washington to Kyiv could escalate the conflict.

She was referring to advanced missile systems that the U.S. is expected to send to Ukraine after months of requests from Zelensky for stronger weapons to shoot down Russian missiles.

"Previously, many experts, including [those based] overseas doubted the logic of such a move, which would lead to an escalation of the conflict and increase the risk of direct involvement of the U.S. army in hostilities," Zakharova said.

Peskov's comments on Wednesday came on the heels of Zelensky's U.S. visit, the first time the Ukrainian leader has left his country since Putin launched a full-scale invasion on February 24.

The Kremlin spokesman said he believes that nothing good would come from Zelensky's trip, during which the U.S. is set to approve the delivery of the Patriot missile defense systems—the most advanced surface-to-air missile the U.S. has provided Ukraine.

The White House said Wednesday that President Joe Biden "will announce a significant new package of security assistance" to help Kyiv and show Washington's "steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes."

Newsweek reached out to the U.S. government for comment.

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