“What awaits him, the President of the United States just said”: Zakharova said that decisions in Kyiv are not made by Zelensky

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that a number of statements by the head of the White House, Joe Biden, demonstrate that decisions in Kyiv are not made by the president of Ukraine.

During a briefing on foreign policy issues, Zakharova noted that the head of the White House had previously recognized Washington's direct involvement in the management of the Ukrainian army.

According to the diplomat, no one in the US administration has refuted Biden's allegations on this score.

“He simply announced that with the approach of spring, a counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine would take place.

So who decides what happens on Bankovaya?

We understand that not Zelensky.

Although he pretends to make these decisions.

Well no.

The President of the United States has just spoken about what awaits him in the spring, ”said Zakharova.

As the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry noted, "a new batch of weapons from the United States worth $ 2.5 billion is called upon to help in this."

Zakharova also said that the previous regular meeting in Ramstein "gave rise to the so-called tank coalition."

According to a representative of the Foreign Ministry, the formation of such a coalition was demanded by "the most frenzied Western hawks, and, of course, Bankovaya."

As the diplomat noted, in Kyiv they are engaged in the division of funds allocated for "upholding democracy."

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“If the President of the United States knows what the Kyiv regime will do in the spring, in a few months, what, did he not guess, there in the White House, where the money and funds sent to the Kyiv regime go?

I didn’t just guess, this is an international level scheme for withdrawing funds and distributing them among the participants,” Zakharova concluded.

Assistance packages to Kyiv from Washington

Earlier in January, Washington announced a series of military aid packages to Ukraine.

On January 19, it became known about assistance totaling $ 2.5 billion.

As part of this decision, Washington announced the transfer to Kyiv of eight Avenger air defense systems, ammunition for NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems and HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, as well as HARM anti-radar missiles, artillery and small arms ammunition.

The package also included 59 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and 590 missiles for the TOW ATGMs installed on them, 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers, 53 MRAP-class armored vehicles and 350 HMMWV vehicles.

Already on January 25, Washington announced a new package of military assistance to Kyiv.

Joe Biden said that the Ukrainian side will receive M1 Abrams tanks.

In a speech timed to coincide with this, the head of the White House said that, according to the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, such a move "will strengthen Ukraine's ability to defend its territories and achieve its strategic goals."

Biden called the M1 Abrams "the most efficient tanks in the world", noting that these vehicles are extremely difficult to operate and maintain.

The head of the White House promised to provide Kyiv with spare parts and equipment for the successful maintenance of these tanks in combat conditions, and also said that training of the Ukrainian military to work with the M1 Abrams would begin in the near future.

Based on a Pentagon publication, as part of the aid package announced on January 25, Kyiv will receive 31 M1 Abrams tanks, 120 mm caliber shells for its guns, and eight M88 repair and recovery armored vehicles.

The aid package with tanks from the United States is estimated at $400 million. Meanwhile, the Pentagon said that since February 24, Washington has sent military assistance to Kyiv for $27.1 billion.

At the same time, US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, at a Senate hearing, said that the United States would not have time to send tanks to Kyiv before the alleged "spring offensive".

Deputy Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh clarified that the United States does not have a surplus of M1 Abrams in stock, so the supply of tanks will be carried out in accordance with the USAI (Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative) mechanism, which involves the production of the necessary equipment instead of borrowing from existing Pentagon stocks.

Meanwhile, Zelensky himself, in an interview with Sky News journalists, admitted that Kyiv would receive tanks from the United States “too late.”

It was with this phrase that he answered the question whether he considers the delivery of the M1 Abrams by August of this year to be timely enough.