MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. Washington is trying to drive an even deeper wedge between Kiev and Moscow, Russian Ambassador to London Andrey Kelin told the Russia-24 TV channel on Friday.
"Here, the US pursues completely clear and opportunistic goals. There are three of them, as far as I understand. First of all, it is driving an even deeper wedge between Ukraine and Russia, they have done a lot in this sphere beginning since 2014 and they continue to do this," he said.
The envoy noted that Washington’s second goal was "turning Europe towards it so it won’t have anything to do with Russia in any sphere, including energy." "Thirdly, it is, of course, increasing containment by all these measures which for the US is now the most important, a rather internal political goal," he added.
That said, the ambassador stressed that he doesn’t understand the UK’s interest in this situation since "the United Kingdom does not have such geopolitical ambitions to support the US with all its might."
The West and Kiev have been echoing allegations about Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded," serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such claims and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have serious consequences.