MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. NATO countries’ reaction to Ukraine’s fast-track application to the alliance demonstrates that the Kiev regime is merely an instrument for the West, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.
"One of the main criteria is that accepting new members to the alliance should bolster NATO’s security. And for those with a sober mind, if they still exist, the situation with Ukraine is extremely clear. And this also proves that the Kiev regime is only a tool for the West, this is their opportunity, their chance for that region to languish under the burden of crisis and conflict. They don’t want any degree of certainty for the Kiev regime, they need the conflict to continue," the diplomat said.
"If initially the office of the president of Ukraine understood this, then they committed the most horrible crime against their people, above all, against Ukrainian citizens," she said. "And if they did not realize this, then the consequences are no less severe and everything is clear about the quality of people who were or are leading that country," the spokeswoman added.
According to Zakharova, statements made by the NATO leadership that all arms deliveries to Ukraine are conducted on a bilateral basis and not under NATO’s auspices "are just a screen that allows the alliance to safeguard itself against the necessity to intervene on behalf of a country which serves as an instrument of standoff with Russia."