MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. Public calls by US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns to continue providing military aid to Kiev so it could strike Russia’s Crimea region and occupy a more favorable position for potential talks are nothing but an incitement aimed at escalating tensions further, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"The position in which the US has put Ukrainian citizens can never become a more favorable one, because Washington is killing Ukraine, it is finishing it off," the diplomat pointed out. "It’s frightening to even imagine what the CIA director means when speaking about a more favorable position: such a statement can be nothing but an incitement to escalate tensions. Not all Ukrainians, according to the American intelligence services, have been killed in Ukraine, and, of course, this is all part of America’s reckless global scheme."

Zakharova recounted that Burns, a former US ambassador to Moscow (2005-2008) who has been CIA chief since 2021, at a US Senate hearing urged American lawmakers to take action so that the flow of military aid to Ukraine does not dry up in order to save the Zelensky regime from collapse. The Russian diplomat elaborated that, according to Burns, the latest aid package, now stalled in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, would allow the Ukrainian armed forces to strike Crimea, its citizens and infrastructure. As well, the US aid would enable Kiev to potentially mount a 2024 offensive, which would purportedly pave the way for Kiev to negotiate with Russia from a more favorable position.