MOSCOW, September 14. /TASS/. The West needs Ukraine as a springboard for its "anti-Russia" project, so it is essential for Kiev to restore neighborly relations with Russia and Belarus, the chairman of the State Duma's committee on international affairs, Leonid Slutsky, said in his Telegram channel while commenting on a statement by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba.

In an interview to the British daily The Independent, Kuleba said that Ukraine "has learned a number of bitter lessons that western promises are likely unfulfilled" and is now learning to become "an agile military state like Israel."

"But in fact, the lesson has never been learned. Sooner or later, Kiev was to realize Ukraine's real 'value' for the West," Slutsky wrote. As a matter of fact, "Ukraine has been openly used as a springboard in the 'anti-Russia' project, and in geopolitical terms, as a pawn in Washington's game."

Slutsky said, "not a military state like Israel, but the return to good-neighborly relations with Russia and Belarus is a pre-requisite for a peaceful future of the 'common Slavic home'."

"Ukrainians, Russians, and Belarusians are fraternal peoples sharing a common history and culture, and they have no other way other than to be together," Slutsky said.