MOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/. At a briefing on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called out Washington for showing interest in dragging on the hostilities in Ukraine, and for its direct involvement in the fighting.
"The US shows interest in stretching out the hostilities in Ukraine as long as possible, and of course, in controlling this situation, that is [we are talking about] the direct involvement of the US in the hostilities," she stressed. According to Zakharova, American officials make frank statements that "the US military had been preparing Ukraine's recent 'counteroffensive' for several months." "Then I have a question: is it still the Armed Forces of Ukraine or the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the West? They [the US], among others, provided the Kiev regime with intelligence and strike weapons. Excuse me, this is no longer consulting services, this is not psychological and moral support, this is direct involvement," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman specified.
She noted that the report and recommendations of a group of experts led by the head of the office of Ukrainian President Andrey Yermak and former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen "on some kind of security guarantees for Ukraine" serves the same purpose. "The document proposes the continuation of Ukraine being pumped with Western weapons and training for its soldiers to fight Russia," the diplomat explained, "Apparently, such a beautiful word 'security guarantees' is the name of a very ugly revelation: these are not security guarantees for Ukraine, this is a desire to kill us, that's all."