BRUSSELS, February 6. /TASS/. The West’s arms supplies to Ukraine will escalate the conflict in the country’s south-east and will cause new victims, Russia’s ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said in an interview with the EurActiv portal.
"It will lead to an escalation of confrontation, to further casualties. Whatever weapons the West may send to boost the Ukrainian army or the nationalist militias, it will not help them to win in this conflict. It is an unwinnable situation. It is a civilian conflict that can only be resolved by political means. Responsibility for continued fighting and further casualties will be on the shoulders of those pouring oil into the fire," he said.
The New York Times newspaper said on Sunday the Unites States considered supplying arms to Ukrainian forces. NATO’s military commander, Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, now supports providing defensive weapons and equipment to Kiev’s beleaguered forces, and an array of administration and military officials appear to be edging toward that position, the newspaper said. "President Obama has made no decisions on providing such lethal assistance. But after a series of striking reversals that Ukraine’s forces have suffered in recent weeks, the Obama administration is taking a fresh look at the question of military aid," the New York Times said.
On Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich, said Moscow is concerned by Washington’s plans to begin supplies of modern lethal weapons to Kiev. "Taking into account the revanchist plans of the "party of war" in Kiev, this could not only escalate the conflict in the south-east, but also threaten the security of Russia, the territory of which has been shelled several times from the Ukrainian side," he said.
"This decision could significantly damage the Russian-US relations, the more so if Donbas residents will be killed by American weapons," Lukashevich said.
"We warn the US administration also against the plans to deploy to Ukraine the armaments and military equipment that are being withdrawn from Afghanistan as the operation of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the American military contingent there has ended," Lukashevich said.