Politico: For the first time since February, the United States can begin to train the Armed Forces of Ukraine on its territory

Washington is exploring the possibility of organizing training for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the management of Patriot air defense systems in the United States, before that all training events were held in Eastern Europe, Germany or the UK, writes Politico.

As the newspaper notes, one of the reasons why the United States was in no hurry to allocate these complexes to Kyiv is precisely their complexity and the duration of training, which can be several months. To operate one Patriot air defense system, it is necessary to train 90 military personnel.

The Pentagon is still debating whether to conduct all or part of the training in the US, or at one of the US bases in Europe. According to one of the sources of the newspaper, training at the European base is feasible, but “associated with great logistical difficulties,” while everything necessary for this is at the base in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

The length and complexity of the training means that Kyiv won’t get the Patriot for “many months,” another Pentagon official explained: Washington is not ready to supply these weapons until the Armed Forces learn how to use them.

December 21 US Department of State informed on the allocation to Kyiv of a new $1.85 billion military aid package, which for the first time will include Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems. The Kremlin said that such actions do not contribute settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, the supply of Patriot complexes will also not prevent Russia from achieving the goals of the special operation. He added that the new weapons would be a legitimate target for the Russian military.

Yesterday, December 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin named The Patriot air defense system is outdated and not as effective as, for example, the Russian S-300, so Russia has an “antidote” for American equipment. He added that US deliveries of Patriot complexes to Ukraine lead to a prolongation of the crisis. At the same time, Russia does not seek to “spin the flywheel of a military conflict.” Putin stressed that Moscow, on the contrary, wants to end the hostilities in Ukraine.

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