Russia on Thursday issued a warning to the U.S. over the proposed transfer of Patriot missile defense systems to Ukraine.

Washington is likely to approve a deal this week to send the advanced missile systems to Ukraine, after months of requests from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the U.S. provide his country with stronger weapons to shoot down Russian missiles.

Russia has for months been bombarding Ukraine with strikes on its energy infrastructure, causing blackouts across the country.

U.S. army officers stand in front a U.S. Patriot missile defense system during a joint Israeli-U.S. military exercise “Juniper Cobra” at the Hatzor Airforce Base on March 8, 2018. Russia on Thursday issued a warning to the U.S. over the proposed transfer of Patriot missile defense systems to Ukraine.
Getty Images/JACK GUEZ/AFP

During a press conference on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, citing experts, warned that possible deliveries of the systems by Washington to Kyiv could escalate the conflict.

“On December 13, the intention of the United States to provide Ukraine with a Patriot anti-missile defense battery was announced. 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,” she said.

The spokeswoman accused the U.S. of continuing to “twist the arms of other NATO countries,” referring to the members of the military alliance.

Washington is “demanding a more significant contribution to the militarization of Ukraine from them [NATO members],” Zakharova continued.

She noted that on November 30, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the U.S., along with its NATO allies, had provided more than $40 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since the conflict began on February 24.

“Our collective resolve to support Ukraine is and will continue to be ironclad, now, throughout the winter, and for as long as it takes for Ukraine to succeed. We will maintain and bolster our security, humanitarian, and economic support for Ukraine,” Blinken said at the time, adding, “We’ll also continue to ramp up costs on the Kremlin and those enabling President Putin’s war.”

Zakharova told reporters that all weapons supplied by Western nations to Ukraine will be targeted by Russia.

“We would like to remind you that all the weapons supplied by the West to Ukraine are legitimate military targets for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and will either be destroyed or captured, as our country has repeatedly said,” she said.

Earlier, Russia’s embassy in Washington said the possible delivery of Patriot missile defense systems to Ukraine was provocative and may “lead to unpredictable consequences.”

The ground-based Patriot missile defense system would be the most advanced surface-to-air missile Washington has provided Kyiv since the war began. With a range of over 65 miles, it can detect, track, and engage drones, cruise missiles, and short-range or tactical ballistic missiles, according to the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.

Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via [email protected].

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