The scenario of expanding Russia’s military campaign will depend on what weapons the West provides to Ukraine, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
On February 26, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu outlined the possibilities of Mosscow expanding military operations in Ukraine, emphasizing that the implementation of the operation will depend on the West’s delivery of weapons to Kiev.
“It depends on the type of weapons that will be provided,” RT quoted Minister Shoigu’s statement.
Earlier, in his State of the Union address on February 21, President Vladimir Putin warned: “We want to make it clear that how much the West provides Ukraine with long-range weapons, we are forced to repel the threat.” far from our borders.”
Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine from February 2022. Moscow has repeatedly urged the West to stop providing military aid to Kiev, saying that this would only prolong the conflict and risk spreading, while it might not change the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow views the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine as a growing Western involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
For its part, Ukraine repeatedly called on the West to support long-range weapons to launch a counter-offensive campaign to push back Russian forces from the territory. The Kiev government has said that peace talks will only take place when Moscow agrees to withdraw all its troops and restore Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders in 1991, including the Crimean peninsula.
Recently, Western countries have committed to provide Ukraine with heavy battle tanks. However, recently, the US and UK said they would not supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine in the near future. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the fighter jet is “not the main weapon” that the Ukrainian military needs at the moment.
In a related development, Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev said on February 26 that Berlin’s decision to send Leopard 2 tanks to Kiev was extremely dangerous because it would escalate the conflict.
The Russian diplomat stressed that the decision “violated an unshakable rule that was considered the basic principle of German foreign policy in the post-war decades and the prohibition on the supply of weapons.” of Germany for conflict zones”.
Earlier, on January 25, the German government announced that it would support Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 tanks and allow the re-export of these tanks from other countries. Then, on February 7, the Berlin government approved a plan to deliver to Ukraine 178 Leopard 1A5 tanks from the defense stockpile. According to the German Defense Ministry, German tanks are expected to be delivered to Ukraine by the last week of March at the latest.
