BERLIN, April 22. /TASS/. The conflict in Ukraine would have long been over if not for the assistance of NATO countries, Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev said.
"Without the participation of NATO countries, including Germany, this conflict would have ended long ago. Ukraine today is fully dependent on supplies of Western weapons, military hardware, ammunition, financing, intelligence, and assistance from military advisers," Nechayev said in an interview with the news portal Deutsche Wirtschaftsnachrichten. Kiev has nothing of its own left, except for soldiers, he added. "However, this resource is not unlimited either," the diplomat stated.
The discussion by high-ranking Bundeswehr officers of the possibility to supply the Ukrainian military with long-range Taurus cruise missiles and provide practical assistance in their use to strike targets in Russia, including civilian infrastructure, cannot but cause concern, the diplomat stressed. "This was yet another evidence of Berlin's high degree of involvement in the Ukrainian conflict," Nechayev said, adding that the Russian Embassy had demanded official explanations from the German side in this regard.