MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. The US delayed the decision to supply Patriot missile systems to Ukraine, former US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told Russian pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov (Vovan) and Alexey Stolyarov (Lexus).
The pranksters called Esper on behalf of former Ukrainian President Petr Poroshenko and asked the former Pentagon chief for his opinion on the Ukrainian topic. Esper assessed that US President Joe Biden was too slow in supplying certain types of weapons to Ukraine.
According to him, it’s good that Patriot systems will be delivered to Ukraine soon, but it is "too late".
Esper pointed out that "the West has delayed the delivery of complexes", which lead to destruction of key cities, key infrastructure, training grounds and other facilities.
US authorities announced in December that they were giving Ukraine a new $1.85 billion military aid package, which for the first time would include a Patriot system. Later, the Pentagon said that it had decided to train the Ukrainian military to use and maintain these systems at the US Army's Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Moscow has repeatedly warned Washington against transferring such weapons to Ukraine. On December 14, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitriy Peskov said that the Patriots would become a legitimate target of the Russian armed forces if they were supplied to Kiev. In his turn, Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov stressed that the training of the Ukrainian military at the base in Oklahoma was yet another confirmation of Washington's de facto involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.