MOSCOW.- Russia affirmed this Thursday that a new amount of US aid for Ukraine, which has been blocked in Congress in Washington for months and will be voted on Saturday, will not change the situation on the front.
Ukraine reiterates to Western powers that it urgently needs more ammunition and anti-aircraft defense systems, in the face of Russian forces that are on the offensive.
The president of the United States House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, announced on Wednesday that a new aid package for Ukraine for $61 billion will be voted on Saturday, after months of blockade in Congress, in an election year.
The Kremlin assured this Thursday that it is not concerned about the possibility of kyiv receiving more Western military aid.
“It will in no way influence the development of the situation on the front,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
“All experts say that the situation on the front is unfavorable for the Ukrainian side. Therefore, this is not going to change anything,” he said.
Uncertainty about the vote in the US
Approval of aid package for Ukraine is uncertain. The allocation has already been approved in the Senate where Democrats are in the majority and has the support of President Joe Biden, but a sector of the Republican Party opposes giving more funds to kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assures that the delay in the delivery of aid has cost his country many lives and involved the loss of territories, and he reiterates almost daily that this support is critical.
The United States is Ukraine’s main supporter in repelling Russia’s offensive, which began in February 2022.
After months of a conflict stalemate, Russian troops began to gain ground this year. Although these advances are modest, Moscow hopes to use them to ensure decisive progress at a time when around 20% of Ukrainian territory remains occupied by Russia.
Energy restrictions
On the ground, two people were killed in Russian bombings in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, according to local authorities.
Russia and Ukraine have in recent weeks intensified operations against critical infrastructure, attacking military and energy facilities far from the front lines.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy on Thursday asked companies to limit the use of electricity during peak hours due to the overload faced by the system due to a cold wave that adds to the damage due to Russian bombings.
“We ask consumers, both households and industries, to reduce the use of devices with high consumption during peak hours”, between 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.
Ukraine claimed responsibility this Thursday for a “successful” attack against the Russian military base of Dzhankoi on the Crimean peninsula, occupied by Russia since 2014, and kyiv affirmed that in the operation, launched on Wednesday, it managed to destroy or damage S-400 missile launchers , radar equipment and an air defense control center.
Source: With information from AP
