A few days ago, Zelensky's trip to the United States attracted widespread attention. During his visit to the United States, he received Biden's commitment to long-term assistance to Ukraine, as well as the US State Department's announcement of US$1.85 billion in military aid to Ukraine, and even obtained the Patriot air defense missile system that Ukraine has been longing for. However, this still did not satisfy Zelensky’s appetite.
On December 21, local time, Zelensky said in a speech in the U.S. Congress that the assistance provided by the United States to Ukraine is far from enough. He hopes that the United States can provide more support. Zelensky also emphasized that the U.S. aid to Ukraine is not just to help Ukraine, but to invest in the security and democracy of the world, and Ukraine will also shoulder its own responsibilities.
Patriot's standard operation training takes about six months, and radar operation training takes the longest, taking more than 11 months. If wartime assault training also takes 6 months, it is a standard course. Because whenever the West discussed providing more advanced weapons to the West before, the weapons did not arrive, and the training had already started in Ukraine's NATO neighboring countries. For example, , Seamaster, , PZH-2000 and other systems have been studied for several weeks, so even if the United States provides Patriot missiles, the Ukrainian army cannot immediately enter the battlefield.
However, recently US intelligence officials pointed out that the symbolic significance of the Patriot air defense system provided by Biden to Ukraine is far greater than its actual significance, because the United States will never provide an upgraded version of the system, only the old one, which means that the combat effectiveness of this missile cannot be guaranteed at all. In fact, the performance of this missile in actual wars is actually very unsatisfactory.
US officials said that the "Patriots" performed poorly in the US military's two Iraq wars. They couldn't even intercept Iraq's outdated Soviet Scud missiles. In 2003, the Patriots shot down more U.S. and allied fighter jets than Iraq shot down. A few years ago, the "Patriots" also failed to respond to a series of attacks on Saudi oil refineries by Houthi armed drones.
At the same time, Russia has already mastered the technical performance of this missile. Putin also said that its performance is only equivalent to the Russian army's S-300. In the Ukrainian battlefield, a large number of S-300 air defense systems were destroyed by the Russian army. Once the Russian army adopts drone swarm tactics on the battlefield, the Patriots will also be greatly restricted.
In response, Putin also officially began to fight back against Western countries. Putin said in the interview that he was 100% convinced that the Russian army would destroy the "Patriot" air defense missile system provided by the United States to Ukraine. The "Patriot" is called the world's most advanced air defense system . It uses inertial guidance and active radar guidance to intercept missiles with very high accuracy, up to more than 90%. For Russia, destroying it may not be as easy as imagined.
However, Ukraine ranks second in Europe in terms of territorial area, and the United States has only provided Ukraine with one "Patriot" air defense system. This system is obviously unable to shoulder the important task of defending Ukraine's entire airspace; in addition, although it is difficult for Russia to destroy the system, it does not mean that the Russian military is helpless, but it only needs to pay a higher price. From this point of view, Ukraine's situation may not be reversed because of this air defense system.
In addition, Russia has also launched countermeasures against Western energy. Putin has stated that he will sign a presidential decree on December 26 or 27 to announce countermeasures against the West’s price ceiling on Russian oil. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Novak mentioned that Russia may cut its oil production by 5% to 7% in early 2023 due to the price ceilings set by the EU and EU on Russian crude oil and petroleum products. Global oil prices soared by more than $1 a barrel on expectations of lower supplies.
At present, Russian oil exports are still within the price limit and have little impact. But once the price limit is exceeded, it’s time to test the effectiveness of G7’s measures.Let us wait and see whether Russia is forced to accept it or whether Europe and the United States will bear the rising oil prices. This move by Russia will undoubtedly reduce its economic income, but in order to defend national interests, they fought back without hesitation.
Those who do too much injustice will be punished. Once Putin signs a presidential decree next week that prohibits Russian oil companies from trading with EU countries or companies, the price of oil in EU countries will inevitably soar again. This is also the price that must be paid for choosing to go against Russia.
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