President Putin assures Kyiv ATACMS won't lead to "substantial" change in war's outcome

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made his first remarks since the deployment of ATACMS missiles by the Ukrainian army against Russian military targets in Russian-held regions.

As reported by RTVi, while speaking to reporters during a visit to Beijing, he acknowledged that the ATACMS creates an additional threat but insisted that the weapon would not lead to any "substantial" changes in the situation along the 1,500-kilometer front line.

Putin responded to journalists with a question, asking why the US delivered those weapons if they, as stated numerous times, believed that Russia already lost the war and continued to call this move yet another mistake by Washington. Regarding Ukraine, the president said that the delivery of those missiles, which Kyiv reported were used on October 17 to destroy nine Russian helicopters at the Berdyansk and Luhansk City airfields, promised "nothing good" for them and that they would "only prolong the agony".