Peskov pointed to the depletion of Western arsenals due to the supply of weapons to Ukraine

Western countries continue to pump weapons into Ukraine, but their stocks are depleted, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

At the briefing, Peskov was asked if the Kremlin expects an increase or decrease in Western supplies to Kyiv against the background of the fact that the volume of Western military assistance is already comparable to the Russian defense budget for the year.

“So far, we see that the countries of the collective West, the so-called, that is, the countries – members of the alliance led by the United States, confirm their readiness to continue to allocate money and pump weapons to Ukraine. At the same time, we are also seeing certain problems with the military-industrial complex of these countries, with the depletion of their stocks of weapons and ammunition,” Peskov said.

At the same time, Moscow also registers “more or less sober voices” interested in the efficiency of spending the funds allocated to Kyiv, he added.

Formerly TASS agency calculatedthat the volume of Western military assistance to Kyiv since the beginning of the special operation of the Russian Federation amounted to $48.5 billion, which is 94.9% of Russia’s defense spending last year ($51.1 billion). The total amount of assistance to Ukraine from Western countries amounted to $150.8 billion.

10 January NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged The EU and the countries of the alliance to increase the level of their support for Ukraine. At the same time, Stoltenberg said that NATO and the EU had depleted their military reserves by providing assistance to Ukraine. However, according to him, “it was the right decision.”

Russia’s special operation in Ukraine began on February 24, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin called it the protection of the inhabitants of Donbass, as well as the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, as its goals. In response, Western countries imposed large-scale sanctions against Russia and began to provide military assistance to Ukraine.

The Russian authorities have repeatedly criticized the supply of Western weapons to Kyiv. In particular, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, has repeatedly pointed out that pumping Ukraine with weapons brings NATO closer to the dangerous line of a direct military clash with Russia.