Russia’s President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with leadership of military-industrial complex enterprises in Tula, Russia, on December 23, 2022. AFPPIX: President Vladimir Putin has blasted the West for trying to “tear apart” Russia and said in an interview aired on national television that his offensive in Ukraine aimed to “unite the Russian people”.
It comes a day after Putin accused his country’s “geopolitical opponents aiming to tear apart Russia, the historical Russia”. “Of course we will destroy it, 100 percent!” Putin said, referring to the Patriot missile battery promised to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.In televised remarks Sunday night, Foreign Minister Kuleba said Russia had lost its claim to a permanent Security Council seat.
Zelensky last week earned firm pledges of support from Biden during his first trip out of Ukraine since the conflict began -- including the Pentagon's most advanced air defence system. This included deadly shelling on a busy market in the city centre that left 10 people dead and 55 wounded.