Russia warns the US of ‘unforeseeable consequences’

According to The Washington Post on Friday, April 16, Russia sent a diplomatic letter to the United States this week warning that if it does not stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, there will be “unforeseeable consequences”.

The aforementioned newspaper said it had access to the diplomatic note, in which Moscow warns that the arms shipments by the US and NATO to Ukraine are “adding fuel” to the conflict, and that they could trigger “unpredictable consequences”. CNN had also claimed to have had access to this same letter some hours earlier.

Last Wednesday 13, Joe Biden, the president of the United States, informed his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of the shipment of an additional package of military assistance worth $800m (€740m). This is designed to help in the new phase of Russia’s invasion as they reportedly begin to focus on the Donbas region. 

After speaking by phone with Zelenskyy, Biden said in a statement that weapons from the United States and other Western countries have been “crucial” for Ukraine in resisting the Russian invasion in the first month and a half of war.

As reported in a list revealed by the Pentagon, the new military assistance includes for the first time, 18 deadly 155-millimetre Howitzer cannons with 40,000rounds of ammunition. Added to these are 10 AN/TPQ-36 type anti-artillery radar systems, and two AN/MPQ-54 air surveillance radars.

This package also contains 300 Switchblade drones (with anti-armour warheads), 500 Javelin anti-tank missiles, 200 armoured personnel carriers, 100 Humvee light-armoured vehicles, 11 Mi-17 helicopters, 30,000 armoured helmets and uniforms, and 2,000 laser and optical binoculars.

The list highlights the presence of protective equipment against possible chemical, biological, and nuclear attacks; and unmanned coastal defence vessels, as reported by elindependiente.com.