US-supplied ATACMS missiles won't help Ukraine: Putin

BEIJING: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday it was a “mistake” for Washington to supply Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles, and warned they would not change the situation of the frontline.

The White House confirmed on Tuesday that it had provided Ukraine with the long-range missiles.

“There will be no result, that’s why it’s a mistake. Nothing good will happen for Ukraine either. It prolongs the agony,” Putin said at a press conference on the sidelines of a summit in Beijing.

“Most importantly, it’s fundamentally unable to change the situation on the line of contact at all, it’s impossible,” he said.

Several US media outlets cited a US official as saying the type of ATACMS supplied to Ukraine has a maximum range of around 160 kilometres (100 miles).

Russian officials on Tuesday accused Ukraine of using the US-supplied missiles to attack Berdyansk, a Russian-controlled port city in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the attacks that Ukraine had used the missiles but did not give details about when or how they were deployed.

“They have performed very accurately. ATACMS have proven themselves,” he said in an evening address Tuesday.