MOSCOW, July 17. /TASS/. Washington authorized Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to deliver new strikes on the territory of Russia, Alexey Polishchuk, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second CIS Department, told TASS in an interview.

"Washington continues to spiral the escalation in an attempt to justify their own crimes and justify the Kiev government’s actions. Morover, Zelensky was authorized to use US weapons for new strikes targeting the territory of Russia," the diplomat said.

In his words, the United States "continues to cherish the illusion of their supremacy," expecting to "inflict a strategic defeat on Russia" and subsequently "wait it out overseas, out of the harm’s way."

"Few members of the US political elite realize the risks of this kind of self-deluding, based on arrogance and underestimation of the enemy. It may lead to unpredictable consequences for the United States and the whole world," Polishchuk said.

He also emphasized that US specialists assisted the recent deadly missile attack on the Crimean city of Sevastopol.

"They were the ones who homed missiles on targets, using a Pentagon drone, hovering in the area," he said.