The U.S. approval for the production of PAC-3 missiles in Ukraine has become a turning point for Putin, as events are not unfolding as he had planned. This was stated by Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum and Prime Minister of Ukraine from 2014 to 2016, speaking on BBC News.

“This is a turning point for Putin, the war criminal. This is not what he expected. It’s great that President Trump decided to give the green light to a license for the production of PAC-3 missiles, which Ukraine desperately needs. But the fact is that this will take time. Only two countries have received such licenses – Japan and Germany. So, it will take at least two years to begin actual production of these extremely expensive missiles,” he noted.

Yatsenyuk emphasized that protecting future production facilities from Russian strikes will pose a particular challenge. “Another question is where to locate such plants and production facilities. Without a doubt, the Russians will try to target precisely these facilities in order to undermine any efforts by Ukraine to produce missiles, which are in critically short supply both in Ukraine and around the world,” the KSF Chairman noted.

He also warned of the threat of new Russian strikes on the energy sector this winter. “Winter is approaching. No peace talks with Putin ever took place – it was a special operation by the FSB, a sham negotiation. Putin, as always, wants to wait us out. He believes that in winter he will be able to strike at Ukrainian infrastructure, effectively causing another round of blackouts in Ukraine and bringing the country to a standstill,” Yatsenyuk pointed out.

The Chairman of the KSF emphasized Putin’s lack of willingness to engage in genuine peace talks with Ukraine. Therefore, he stressed, the only solution is to increase pressure on Russia, provide Ukraine with additional military and financial support, and present a united transatlantic front against Putin.