WASHINGTON, Jul 30. /TASS/. Washington is wasting huge funds on the conflict in Ukraine, while the US national debt has for the first time in history exceeded $35 trillion, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said.
"Washington continues to burn huge amounts of money in the flames of the Ukrainian conflict, while today, it was announced that the national debt had surpassed the all-time high of $35 trillion," he pointed out, commenting on Washington’s announcement of a new military aid package for Ukraine totaling about $1.7 bln.
"One can only imagine how much good the money that is being poured on the neo-Nazi and terrorist regime in Kiev could have done had it been spent on peaceful purposes, development goals and efforts to solve numerous domestic social and economic problems in the US," Antonov added.
"Clearly, this is not what the US ruling circles plan to do. They are fully stuck in the past, torn between the concept of ‘Ukraine within the 1991 borders’, which does not and will never exist - and the forlorn hope of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia," the envoy noted.
"US weapons supplies to Kiev cannot change the situation on the battlefield; they will only prolong the conflict, leading to more casualties, including among civilians," Antonov added. "However, the profit mongers who are making money on military preparations and put their own interests above the interests of countries and peoples don’t care about that," he said.
The US Department of the Treasury said on Monday that the gross national debt had topped the record high of $35 trillion as of July 29. Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced additional security assistance to Ukraine worth $1.7 bln, including $200 mln from the authorization of a Presidential Drawdown Authority package and a package worth $1.5 bln in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds.