MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Russia is practically alone in countering the military-industrial conglomerate of NATO and Ukraine, with Kiev acting as a bridgehead and the West as headquarters, rear and arms supplier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said on Monday.

"Russia is now practically alone in confronting the NATO-Ukrainian military and military-industrial conglomerate, in which Ukraine is assigned the role of bridgehead in the confrontation with Russia, while the collective West serves as headquarters, rear, intelligence and arms supplier," he said at the scientific and practical conference ‘Ukraine between Russia and the West’ at the House of the Russian Historical Society.

The senior diplomat noted that Ukraine is currently "a stumbling block in relations between Russia and the West." "Unfortunately, this country has become the expendable material of the policy of the collective West, primarily of the Anglo-Saxons. This policy is aimed at building a configuration of international relations beneficial to them, in order to prevent unipolarity and former hegemony from slipping out of their hands by any means," he added.

Galuzin also drew attention to the fact that the supply of arms by NATO member states to Ukraine had already exceeded 65 billion euros in total. "At the same time, the West could not find money for peace, for support of developing countries and for solving problems of food security," the senior diplomat pointed out.

The deputy minister noted that "the UK has always been afraid of Russia's rapprochement with France and Germany and opposed this rapprochement in every possible way". According to Galuzin, in this context, the current escalation of confrontation between Russia and the European Union "certainly plays into the hands of the Anglo-Saxons". "The terrorist attack on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream-2 pipelines clearly showed what those who are not interested in mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and these European states are ready to do," he concluded.