The Only Provocative Measures 'Made By Russia' — State Department

Russia is single handedly responsible for provocations in its neighborhood, the State Department said on Friday responding to the Kremlin's comments that a possible U.S. shipment of Patriot missile systems to Ukraine would "lead to unpredictable consequences" and threaten global security, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"... The only provocative measures that have been taken over the course of this entire conflict are being made by Russia," Vedant Patel. the Department's principal deputy spokesperson, told a daily press briefing when responding to TURAN's questions.

"Russia is the aggressor in this situation, and let’s not forget that," Patel said. "The U.S. is not now nor has it ever been at war with Russia," he reminded.

Patel went on to add, "We’ve been doing exactly what President Biden told President Putin – would do is that if Russia attacked Ukraine, we would provide security assistance and help Ukraine defend itself and defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty."

Washington has also taken steps to hold Russia to account through sanctions, through export controls, and other measures, a tranche of which it announced yesterday, Patel said.

He also reminded that over the 9 months of the conflict, Russia has struck more than 200 targets related to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, threatening to freeze, to starve, and force Ukrainian civilians from their homes in the midst of winter.

"We will do everything we can to continue to support the Ukrainian people," he concluded.

Patel's comments came as Ukraine went under one of the biggest attacks of the war yesterday as Moscow deployed dozens of missiles around the country.

Ukrainian forces shot down 37 of about 40 missiles that entered the capital city’s airspace, Ktiv officials were quoted as saying. More than 70 missiles total were fired at settlements across the country, causing power outages that the nation’s power operator said will take longer than usual to repair.

Yesterday's attack came days after the U.S. officials were finalizing plans to send a Patriot missile defense system, which Moscow’s foreign ministry warned would be a legitimate target for Russian troops.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.