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Lawmaker warns US military aid to Kiev will undermine Donbass peace process

MOSCOW, July 25. /TASS/. Washington’s plans to send weapons to Ukraine would only exacerbate the Donbass peace process, Chairman of Russia’s State Duma (lower house of parliament) International Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky said in an interview with TASS on Tuesday.

"US weapons supplies to Ukraine are unlikely to be instrumental in bringing peace to the Donbass region. Military assistance is not the path that will lead to resolving the conflict," he emphasized.

According to Slutsky, the discussion on this issue in Washington "once again proves that "Kiev’s US handlers do not need peace in Ukraine, the way it was under the Obama administration. "They prefer to have another hotspot of tension, and in close proximity to Russia’s border at that, to promote their interests to build a unipolar world," he said.

The Russian lawmaker noted that there is no military alternative to the Minsk agreements. "It is necessary to prompt the authorities in Kiev to comply with their political share. Only by doing so, will it be possible to end the bloodshed in southeastern Ukraine where civilians, including women and children, are killed every day," Slutsky concluded.

Washington is mulling sending arms to Ukraine, US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker confirmed in an interview with the BBC on Tuesday. According to the US envoy, defensive weapons "would allow Ukraine to defend itself." Volker noted though that "that’s a matter for further discussion," adding that peace in eastern Ukraine will require new strategic dialogue with Russia.