Moscow:

Russia said on Thursday that new U.S. aid to Ukraine would not change the situation on the battlefield, as Washington prepared for a crucial weekend vote on long-stalled military funding in Kiev.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday he would move forward with a $61 billion package for Ukraine that has been stalled by political infighting among Republicans since last year.

For months, Ukraine has struggled on the battlefield, outgunned and outnumbered by Russian forces amid a shortage of Western military aid.

The Kremlin said on Thursday it was not concerned about the prospect of new weapons injections from the West.

“This will not in any way affect the development of the situation on the front lines,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

“All experts now assert that the situation on the frontline is very unfavorable for the Ukrainian side. So it cannot change anything,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the months-long delay had cost Ukraine lives and territory.

Kiev relies on Western funding to fend off Russia’s offensive.

Washington has been Kyiv’s most important military backer as the entire conflict enters its third year.

The lack of new funding has become increasingly acute, with Ukrainian leaders pressing for support almost daily.

“We needed the money yesterday, not tomorrow, not today,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal told the BBC on Wednesday.

After months of stalemate on the front lines, Russian forces have begun to make their first territorial gains of the year.

Although limited so far, Moscow is seeking to exert advantage on the battlefield, hoping to achieve a decisive breakthrough while Kiev is at a disadvantage.

-Energy constraints-

U.S. President Joe Biden said he would sign the aid package into law “immediately” after Congress passes it.

The White House has grown increasingly exasperated with the delays in recent months, and the U.S. Senate passed its own version of the bill in February.

It’s unclear whether Johnson’s measure will pass the House or the Democratic-controlled Senate.

His majority in the lower house is razor-thin, and he is facing potential Republican resistance to the complex plan.

As the aid debate rages on, both Russia and Ukraine have stepped up airstrikes in recent weeks, hitting military and energy facilities deep along the front lines.

Ukraine on Thursday urged companies to limit electricity use during peak hours as a cold snap threatened blackouts after weeks of strikes in Russia.

“Given the significant damage caused by hostile attacks to the power system, as well as the sharp drop in temperatures and the corresponding increase in the load on the power system, it is very important to use electricity wisely,” Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said.

“We request domestic and industrial consumers to reduce the use of energy-intensive appliances during the peak hours between 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm,” it added.

Attacks in Ukraine this year have also hit a series of Russian refineries, causing the country’s production of fuels such as gasoline and diesel to fall.

Both sides claimed their attacks were legal.

Kiev also said on Thursday that its forces had attacked a large Russian airport on the annexed Crimean peninsula a day earlier, claiming to have destroyed a range of enemy equipment.

Russian shelling killed two people in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, local authorities said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)