WASHINGTON, February 4. /TASS/. By supplying Ukraine with increasingly powerful weapons, the United States is seeking to deliberately escalate the conflict, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said on Friday.
"Washington sees no boundaries in seeking to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. The transfer of increasingly powerful weapons to the Kiev regime is a deliberate escalation of the conflict by the United States," the Russian embassy quoted Antonov as saying. According to the envoy, "The administration has put almost everything on the `Ukrainian card’: its own international authority, the money of American taxpayers, and the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. At this rate, the United States could go to absolute madness, like giving fighter jets to the republic."
"Washington is de facto inciting its proteges to attack Russian regions. For us, there is no difference when we talk about a possible attack by Kiev criminals on the Zaporozhye or Bryansk regions, Crimea or the Smolensk region. All the lands that became part of Russia by the will of their inhabitants are our Motherland and we will defend it with all our might," the Russian diplomat warned.
Antonov pointed to the Russians’ deepest sense of patriotism, the courage of the military and those providing their support to the Army in the rear as a key contribution to the country’s victories. "That is why any attempt to harm the Russian Federation is doomed to failure. The sooner the United States realizes this, the sooner the current conflict will end," the Russian envoy concluded.
On Friday, the Pentagon announced further security assistance for Ukraine. The new package worth $2.175 billion will include Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB), a weapon with a range of around 150 kilometers. According to the Pentagon’s estimate, the US has spent over $29.3 billion on military aid for Ukraine since the launch of Russia’s special military operation.