MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. Ukraine’s ploy to create missile systems will most likely end in failure, but Russia must keep a close eye on these attempts and brace to respond in kind, said Konstantin Gavrilov, who is leading the Russian Arms Control Delegation in Vienna, in a live broadcast of the Rossiya-24 TV Channel on Monday.

"Of course, there may be concerns but it is necessary to prepare for this. However, judging by Ukraine’s experience of the past ten or, perhaps, more years, all its attempts to produce something based on Soviet technical potential have resulted in pathetic flops," the Russian diplomat said.

"In this regard, I believe that it is necessary to keep close tabs on the attempts to create all these Sapsans [missile systems] but all of them are bound to fail miserably. But all agencies should gear up for and work on that and closely watch the developments to respond reliably to these attempts, when required," he said.

Considering Ukraine’s current potential, its missiles "will hardly be able to reach the Russian Federation," the envoy explained.

Earlier, Andrei Taran, Ukraine’s defense chief, announced that by 2022 the country’s Defense Ministry would be able to carry out work on creating a national missile shield. As the defense minister specified, this is primarily related to the resumption of the work on the Sapsan tactical missile system.