Kremlin says 'fully' agrees with Trump's opposition to Ukraine firing US missiles

Ukrainian forces shoot toward Russian positions at the front line in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022.

The Kremlin said Friday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's opposition to Ukraine's use of U.S. weapons to hit Russia "fully aligned" with Moscow's position, hours after it launched a massive aerial barrage on Ukraine.

The nearly three-year conflict is escalating ahead of Trump coming to power in January, with both sides seeking to gain an upper hand on the battlefield amid mounting speculation of ceasefire talks.

Russia launched one of its largest missile attacks ever in the early hours of Friday, targeting Ukraine's energy grid as temperatures dropped below freezing, in what Moscow called a retaliatory strike for Kiev firing U.S. weapons on a southern Russian airfield earlier this week.

The Kremlin had warned it would respond to Kiev's use of ATACMS missiles and then praised Trump, who said using the weapons to hit deep into Russia was a "foolish" idea.

"The statement fully aligns with our position, with our view on the reasons for escalation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"That impresses us. It is obvious that Trump understands exactly what is escalating the situation."

Moscow has repeatedly raged against Western arms supplied to Ukraine and said the use of Western weapons makes NATO countries direct participants in the nearly three-year conflict.

"In response to the use of American long-range weapons, a massive strike was carried out by the Russian armed forces... against critical facilities of Ukraine's fuel and energy infrastructure," Russia's defense ministry said in a post on Telegram.

  'Deprive us of energy'