WASHINGTON, October 5. /TASS/. Washington’s decision to continue its arms supplies to Kiev seals its status of a participant in the conflict, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on Wednesday.
"The administration’s decision to continue pumping the Kiev regime with heavy weapons only secures Washington’s status as a participant of the conflict," he said in a statement. "We perceive this as an immediate threat to the strategic interests of our country."
According to the Russian diplomat, "the supply of military products by the US and its allies not only entails protracted bloodshed and new casualties, but also increases the danger of a direct military clash between Russia and Western countries."
"We call on Washington to stop its provocative actions that could lead to the most serious consequences," he added.
The Pentagon press service announced on Tuesday it was allocating another package of military aid to Ukraine, including four HIMARS and ammunition for them. In addition, Washington is giving Kiev 16 155mm Howitzers and as many 105mm Howitzers; 75,000 155mm artillery rounds; 1,000 155mm rounds of Remote Anti-Armor Mine Systems; 500 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds; 30,000 120mm mortar rounds; 200 MaxxPro Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles; 200,000 rounds of small arms ammunition; obstacle emplacement equipment; and Claymore anti-personnel munitions. The equipment will be drawn from Department of Defense inventories.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that, in response to a request from the Donbass republics, he made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. He underscored that Moscow does not plan to occupy Ukrainian territories, instead planning to demilitarize and denazify the country. In response, the West started introducing sweeping sanctions against Russia and shipping weapons and military vehicles to Kiev already worth tens of billions of dollars at this point.