MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/. The West’s encouragement of Kiev’s counteroffensive will only lead to bloodshed and the further escalation of the conflict, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said in an interview with the Izvestia daily that came out on Thursday.

"The reckless and absolutely irresponsible flooding Kiev with advanced Western weapons and the encouragement of its plans for a counteroffensive will only lead to bloodshed and the further escalation of the conflict. We would like to warn the Kiev regime and its Western sponsors bout inevitable deplorable consequences of their plans," he noted.

According to the diplomat, Russia’s armed forces are prepared for any development of the situation and "neither Kiev nor the West would derive any dividends.".