US warns Zelensky that time is against him

The military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) will need several months to prepare for the use of the American Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems, which Washington is going to supply to Kyiv. About this in an article for the publication 19FortyFive said retired US Army officer Brent Eastwood, reviewing the situation with new arms shipments.

“Time is the very factor that works against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky,” the officer wrote.

The more complex the system, the more time the military will need to train to operate it, Eastwood said. The military believes that in the case of the Patriot, the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will need several months of training.

“Another problem is that the Pentagon is reducing its own stockpile of weapons that could jeopardize the response to the East Asian war against China if it breaks out.”, – the author added.

In his material, Eastwood referred to analysts’ data, which indicate that the United States lacks HIMARS launchers, Javelin anti-tank missiles, Stinger air defense systems, M-777 howitzers, and 155-mm howitzer shells.

On December 21, the contents of a new package of US military assistance to Ukraine became known. The US State Department announced that the new military package for the Ukrainian army included HARM missiles for the Patriot air defense system, ammunition for HIMARS systems and armored vehicles. At the same time, the Pentagon reminds that even Patriot is not a “silver bullet” against Russian aircraft and missiles. It needs to be used in conjunction with other air defense systems, and it will take months to prepare the calculations.

Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov explained that the American Patriot air defense systems will become a target for Russian military personnel if the systems get the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Kremlin speaker recalled that one of the main goals of the special operation is demilitarization.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stressed that any shipments of weapons supplied by Western countries to Ukraine would be a legitimate target for the Russian Aerospace Forces. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the supply of weapons would not stop, but would prolong the conflict in Ukraine. In the light of this fact, the position of the Western countries seems “harmful” and “counterproductive”.

In turn, the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov noted that pumping Ukraine with weapons from Western countries would not contribute to the success of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and would also have a negative effect.