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NATO looking to divide up Western Ukraine among members — Russian diplomat

"No NATO ally would ever receive the copious amounts of [funds and weapons] that non-member Ukraine has," Maria Zakharova argued

MOSCOW, July 10. /TASS/. The North Atlantic Alliance views Western Ukraine as its property but is still unsure about how exactly to split it up, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik Radio.

Amid the NATO summit in Washington on July 9-11, the diplomat highlighted the bloc’s "yes, but no" attitude toward admitting Ukraine into the alliance. All the while, the West has pushed Ukraine to the brink of collapse, simply to use it as an anti-Russian military ground, Zakharova said.

"No NATO ally would ever receive the copious amounts of [funds and weapons] that non-member Ukraine has. What is the reason behind this? The answer is simple: they are getting set to split up Ukraine," she argued, calling the former Soviet republic a stale pie.

"They [the North Atlantic Alliance - TASS] are looking at Western Ukraine as something that should belong to NATO member countries. <…> They have yet to divide it and they are not yet sure how to consume it," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman concluded.

Earlier, Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas said it would be difficult for Ukraine to get an invitation to join the alliance at the NATO summit because there is no consensus on this issue among members.