MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Monday that a U.S. Congress decision to pass a stopgap funding bill that omitted aid for Kyiv did not indicate that Washington’s multi-billion-dollar support for Ukraine would change anytime soon.
“They will continue their support,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to state news agency TASS. “We should not think that anything has changed: it’s just a show for the public, it’s just noise.”
“Fundamentally, Washington’s focus on supporting its client in Kyiv is not changing,” Ryabkov said.
The United States has committed more than $43.9 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, including missiles, artillery, ammunition and intelligence.
President Vladimir Putin says the West will fail in its attempt to defeat Russian forces in Ukraine and has girded the Russian economy for a long war, ramping up weapons production and defence spending.
Ryabkov also said that U.S.-produced missiles previously covered by the now defunct Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty could appear in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
Washington withdrew from the treaty in 2019. Russia has since said it will not deploy such weapons provided that Washington does not.
(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Alexander Marrow; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
