WASHINGTON, April 26. /TASS/. The US tries to prolong Russia’s special operation in Ukraine by all means, attempting to cause Russia the utmost harm, according to a commentary by Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov published on Monday on the Russian Embassy’s Telegram channel.

"It is obvious that behind Washington’s actions an aspiration is hidden to prolong the Russian special operation by any means, trying to cause the utmost harm to Russia and to fight until the last Ukrainian," the envoy noted, reiterating that the White House is asking the US Congress for funds to provide additional military aid to Ukraine while its total volume since the current administration came to power has surpassed $4 bln.

"The US wants to preserve the hotbed of instability in Europe, thereby uniting Western allies around itself in order to preserve US positions on the global arena," the diplomat pointed out, noting that the conflict in Ukraine and Russia’s image as an external threat "are being actively exploited by the powers that be in order to distract voters from their own failures in public administration and the growing heap of political and socio-economic problems in the US." "All of this makes one think that the Ukrainian conflict was intentionally provoked by the US," the ambassador stated.

According to him, it is impossible to ignore the fact that the world is moving towards multipolarity. "Russia won’t be brought down to its knees. Illusory Western projects remained in the past," he emphasized.

The Russian envoy reiterated that "the special military operation is not directed against the Ukrainians" while its main goals are the "protection of the DPR and LPR, Ukraine’s neutral and non-nuclear status, the demilitarization and denazification of this republic." "For our national security it is important to remove the threats coming from Ukrainian territory due to its development by NATO. Our goals will be fully attained," the diplomat concluded.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.