The Russian Foreign Ministry commented on Kiev's request to the Americans for the supply of THAAD anti-missile systems, urging Washington "not to do stupid things" and not to lead the situation around Ukraine into a dead end. According to Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, the potential deployment of complexes near Kharkov would be a "provocation against Russia" and a way to blackmail Moscow. Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Alexander Pankin said that the possible supply of THAAD anti-missile systems to Kiev will only aggravate the crisis around Ukraine. The diplomat urged Washington to behave prudently and not to do stupid things.
“We still urge our American colleagues, with whom we are in dialogue at various levels, including the highest level, not to do stupid things, to behave prudently and not to use the situation in order to lead it further into a dead end, from which it will be difficult to find a way out, ”Pankin said at the site of the Valdai Club (quote from TASS).
He added that Moscow will continue to use diplomatic methods in the future. “And our colleagues, apparently, will take care of others,” the deputy minister concluded.
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“An attempt to exert military-technical pressure”
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called the information about the possible deployment of THAAD near Kharkov a provocation against Russia and an attempt to put pressure on Moscow. “Everything that is happening in this area in terms of pumping Ukraine with equipment, ammunition, military equipment, including lethal weapons, is an attempt to put additional and, probably, military-technical pressure on us. Obviously, there is a component of blackmail and pressure here, we understand this,” he said.According to Ryabkov, the Western countries opposing Russia "have nothing left in their arsenal." “Instead of engaging in de-escalation, including, among other things, an unconditional demand for Kiev to fully comply with the Minsk agreements, all kinds of informational stuffing is taking place,” he said.
Such misinformation is usually aimed at "an ignorant public that grabs at any news, especially one that has a tinge of negative sensation," Ryabkov emphasized. “But we do not succumb to provocations. And this is provocation in its purest form,” he concluded.
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Kyiv's request
On Monday, February 7, TASS, citing a diplomatic source, reported that Kiev had asked Washington to deploy THAAD systems and related radar facilities near Kharkov. “The AN / TPY-2 radar station, which is part of the THAAD complex, is capable of tracking the aerospace situation over a significant part of Russian territory and can allow Kiev and its NATO allies to “look” deep into Russian territory at a distance of up to 1 thousand km,” — explained the interlocutor of the agency.There is still no official confirmation of this information. State Department spokesman Ned Price declined to comment on Kiev's alleged request the day before. “I can’t talk about steps that have not been announced, which are hypothetical and may not take place,” he told reporters.
The Kremlin said that the deployment of THAAD in Ukraine would be another step towards destabilizing the situation in the region.
Similar to the Russian S-500 air defense systems
The THAAD missile defense system is a mobile ground-based anti-missile system for high-altitude exoatmospheric interception of medium-range missiles. Such a complex can simultaneously attack 6-7 targets or lead up to ten targets in a passive mode. Firing range - up to 200 km. The interception height is 150 km according to some data, 200 km according to others. The prime contractor is Lockheed Martin.“To put it simply, THAAD is an analogue of our S-500, but with worse performance. It provides missile defense in one or another theater of operations,” said the former deputy commander-in-chief of the Air Force for the joint air defense system of the CIS countries, lieutenant general of the reserve Aitech Bizhev.
The expert noted that during the years of Donald Trump's presidency, the United States withdrew from many international agreements, so "they can install these systems wherever they want."
bbabo.Net