MOSCOW (Dispatches) --
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said the West’s desire to maintain its dominance on the world stage was increasing the risks of conflict.
“The potential for conflict in the world is growing and this is a direct consequence of the attempts by Western elites to preserve their political, financial, military and ideological dominance by any means,” Putin said.
The Russian leader was speaking in a video message to a summit of defense ministers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and a group of ex-Soviet countries that was published by the Kremlin.
“They deliberately multiply chaos and aggravate the international situation,” Putin said.
He also accused the West of “exploiting” Ukraine and using its people as “cannon fodder” in a conflict against Russia.
Putin has repeatedly cast the war in Ukraine - which Moscow calls a “special military operation” - as a conflict between Russia and the West, criticizing those who have provided military and financial backing to Ukraine.
The United States is preparing to send Ukraine a $275 million military aid package purportedly offering new capabilities to defeat drones and strengthen air defenses, according to a document seen by Reuters on Thursday and people familiar with the package.
The Pentagon is also expected to include rockets for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers made by Lockheed Martin Corp, 155mm ammunition, Humvee military vehicles and generators, according to the people and the document.
The $275 million will be covered by Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) which allows the United States to transfer military articles and services from stocks quickly without congressional approval in response to an emergency.
Russia’s surge in missile strikes in Ukraine is partly designed to exhaust Kyiv’s supplies of air defenses and achieve dominance of the skies above the country, a senior Pentagon official said in November.
To counter these attacks, the United States has sent anti-aircraft NASAMS systems to Ukraine which have been running for a few weeks.
To counter these attacks, the United States has sent sophisticated anti-aircraft NASAMS systems to Ukraine which have been running for a few weeks.
Washington previously announced it was sending four Avenger short-range air defense systems that use Stinger missiles, made by Raytheon Technologies Corp, and HAWK interceptor missiles.
U.S. allies have also been sending air defense systems.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”, the United States has sent around $19.1 billion worth of security assistance to Kyiv.
U.S. lawmakers voted on Thursday to provide Ukraine at least $800 million in additional security assistance next year.
Putin vowed Thursday to keep battering Ukraine s energy grid despite an outcry from the West.
He instead blamed Ukraine for initiating a trend of attacking civilian infrastructure, pointing to a blast on a key bridge between the Russian mainland and the annexed Crimean peninsula that he recently visited.
“There s a lot of noise about our strikes on the energy infrastructure of a neighboring country. This will not interfere with our combat missions,” Putin said at a military awards ceremony in the Kremlin.
Weeks of Russian missile barrages across Ukraine have crippled key infrastructure at a critical time, as temperatures drop ahead of long winter months that already have brought suffering to Ukrainians lacking water, heating and gas.
He presented the strikes as a response to the explosion in October on the Kerch bridge and also accused Kyiv of blowing up power lines from the Kursk nuclear power plant and for not supplying water to Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
“Yes, we do that,” Putin said of the strikes on the Ukraine grid. “But who started it?”
Ukrainian energy operator Ukrenergo said Thursday that it was still reeling from the latest bout of strikes that came this week and was suffering a “significant deficit”.
“The situation is complicated by weather conditions,” it added, saying snow, frost and wind were putting pressure on infrastructure.
Putin s promise to keep attacking the grid came as the Kremlin conceded that the Crimean peninsula was vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks after officials said they had shot down a drone near a key naval base.
“There are certainly risks because the Ukrainian side continues its policy of organizing terrorist attacks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“But, on the other hand, information we get indicates that effective countermeasures are being taken,” he added.
The Moscow-appointed governor of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov said last month that Russia was strengthening fortifications on the peninsula in the wake of attacks.