WASHINGTON, September 3. /TASS/. Ukrainian officials recently came to the United States for "handouts," as they called on Washington to toughen its stance on Russia, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said.

"The Ukrainians came here for `handouts’. They begged for missiles, ammunition and money. They urged officials to toughen policies towards our country. They found full support here," Antonov said in a comment via Telegram, referring to a recent US trip by Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and chief of the Ukrainian presidential office Andrey Yermak. "Washington's cynical goal remains the same - to harm the Russian Federation with their weapons which are placed in Ukrainian hands," he emphasized.

According to Antonov, Moscow only learns about the latest agreements reached between the United States and Ukraine regarding the conflict with Russia post factum. "I do not exclude that this time representatives of the Kiev regime received additional promises to support military actions against Russia. I am sure that in the future all this will be formalized in the form of yet another `package’ of arms supplies to Ukraine," the Russian envoy added.