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West continues to help Ukraine despite depleted stockpiles — Kremlin

According to TASS calculations, foreign countries and international organizations have provided financial aid to Kiev totaling more than $150.8 billion since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine

MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. Western countries, led by the US, are ready to continue pumping Ukraine with weapons even though their stockpiles are depleting, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

"So far, we have seen that Western countries, led by the US, have demonstrated their readiness to continue to allocate money and pump Ukraine with weapons. At the same time, we also see certain problems with the military-industrial complex of these countries, with the depletion of their stockpiles of weapons and ammunition. However, we continue to observe their declarations that despite all the difficulties, they will continue to pump Ukraine," Peskov said when asked by TASS to comment on information that Western military aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the special military operation has almost equaled Russia’s defense budget.

The Kremlin spokesman noted that there were people in the West who have begun to wonder whether Kiev was effectively spending the financial aid it received. "We note more or less sober people who are still vaguely interested in the effectiveness of spending these fabulous sums on Ukraine. You know that Ukraine suffers from this malaise, I mean corruption. Of course, the flow of this money obviously goes beyond its intended use. More and more people in the West understand this," the spokesman pointed out.

"So this money will continue to flow, but we also see that there are problems with it, and growing irritation in a number of Western countries, and impending problems associated with such money streams. These problems are inevitable for Western countries," Peskov concluded.

When responding to a clarifying question about whether such data could be considered further evidence that an international war against Russia was underway, he said: "If you want, you can, of course."

According to TASS calculations, foreign countries and international organizations have provided financial aid to Kiev totaling more than $150.8 billion since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. Almost a third - $48.5 billion - went to Ukrainian military needs. Thus, the total volume of Western aid to Ukraine since the start of the military operation is 2.7 times higher than its budget for 2022 ($55.5 billion). And military aid to Kiev alone already accounts for 94.9% of Russia's defense spending last year ($51.1 billion).