Zakharova responded to US admission to arming Ukraine prior to the start of the SAEs

On 4 January, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova commented to Izvestiya on US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's admission that Washington had been arming Ukraine even before the start of the special military operation (SMO).

According to her, Russia has been pointing this out for years.

"And about the endless NATO exercises in the Black Sea waters with violation of Russian borders, and about the dangerous rapprochement of military aircraft of Western countries with civilian aircraft in our country's airspace," Zakharova said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman also stressed that for this reason one of the goals of the special operation is to demilitarize Ukraine, as well as to ensure Russia's security.

A fly-by mission: Japanese missiles via the U.S. could end up in Ukraine

The Russian Embassy in Tokyo warned that the transfer of such weapons through any channels would be regarded as a hostile act

Blinken said in a conversation with The New York Times earlier in the day that Washington began sending arms to Kiev long before Russia launched the special operation. He noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) received weapons such as Stinger surface-to-air missile systems (SAMs) and Javelin anti-tank missile systems, among others. Washington later added Abrams tanks to its supplies and thought about plans to transfer F-16 fighter jets.

Earlier, on January 3, the press bureau of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) noted that the West does not rule out the imminent collapse of the AFU's defense and stresses the general decline in the country's ability to confront Russia's army. In this regard, the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is trying to prevent such a scenario and is emphasizing the delivery of more and more advanced weapons to Kiev, including longer-range missile systems.

Prior to that, on 1 January, the US portal 19FortyFive reported that US President-elect Donald Trump would have to agree to large territorial concessions from Ukraine in order to end the Ukrainian conflict. In addition, it noted that the future head of the United States will have to publicly declare that Ukraine will never join NATO.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the backdrop of the aggravated situation in the region.