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Vladimir Putin is not happy with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s appearance before Congress.
So much so that he has declared peace talks are now off the table, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
“The supply of weapons continues and the range of supplied weapons is expanding. All of this, of course, leads to an aggravation of the conflict. This does not bode well for Ukraine,” Peskov said.
With Zelensky’s visit comes the Ukrainian acquisition of the vaunted Patriot missile system. This surface-to-air missile system has an anti-ballistic missile designation and is its primary mission.
In response to this delivery of this SAM system to Ukraine, Putin has threatened to unleash Russia’s “Satan-2” hypersonic intercontinental ballistic missile, which is capable of delivering a nuclear payload.
The Satan-2 could be ready for deployment as early as January according to Russian officials.
The potential damage from the “super-heavy” Satan-2 ICBM is staggering. Its capability to launch up to 15 independently targeted warheads that each can travel at speeds over 16,000 mph means it can strike targets in the UK within a matter of minutes.
In an address to the Russian Defense Military Board on Wednesday, Putin told them Russia has to maintain a military balance against Ukraine and its backing by the U.S.
“We are well aware of all the NATO forces and resources that they have been using against us over the course of the special military operation,” Putin said Wednesday. “It is the main guarantee that our sovereignty and territorial integrity, strategic parity and the general balance of forces in the world are preserved.”
Some believe this is simply an empty threat designed to prevent military support to Ukraine.
In an interview with Newsweek, Dr. Ivan Gomza, academic director of the Public Policy and Governance Program at the Kyiv School of Economics, believes the talk coming out of Russia is mere “threatening rhetoric [that] is devised to shatter support for arm and munitions supplies to Ukraine.
“Russia has already taken all conceivable military moves,” Gomza says. “As with Russian threats to tackle Patriot systems if they are delivered to Ukraine, such promises are used to plant fear precisely because Russia cannot make anything substantial to avoid the undesirable development [for Moscow].”
As reported by The Kyiv Independent, Russia’s Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, left for an unannounced trip to China to meet with President Xi Jinping and discussed their “no limits” strategy between the two countries.
The two leaders also reportedly discussed the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
As the New Year looms, and with it many prophecies of what is to come, including World War III potentially looming in the shadows, Christians can take rest in God’s Word. End Times Scriptures inform, equip and uplift believers, even as the world devolves into the chaos of a godless society. Yes, there will be wars and rumors of wars; famine; meteorological events that can’t be explained; and evil will stain the world.
But these things must come to pass for the return of the King. And Christians have a part to play in these events, sharing the gospel; loving their neighbors; praying; fasting; and wisely preparing for the hard times to come. Thank God He provided a survival guide during these tumultuous times. {eoa}
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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.
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