MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/. It’s not the Ukrainian authorities but US lawmakers that are deciding the future of the Ukrainian people, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, commenting on the possibility of Kiev lowering the conscription age to 20 years.

The diplomat pointed out that the Ukrainian media were reporting about the growing number of Ukrainian parliament members supporting the idea of reducing the draft age. "The initiative stems from letters by US Congress members. US lawmakers were outraged by the fact that the Kiev regime does not call men younger than 25 years into the army. <...> This makes it clear that it’s not Ukrainian politicians elected by the country’s citizens that are deciding the future of Ukrainians but some people overseas," Zakharova pointed out.

She emphasized that the United States was using Ukraine as a tool in its geopolitical manipulations.

"US Congress members, who have no idea about Ukraine, Ukrainian culture, history and real traditions, are now calling for every possible effort to make sure that Ukraine lowers the draft age to 20," the Russian diplomat noted.

"What does this really mean? American legislators dream of wiping Ukrainians out as a nation, an ethnic and cultural group. They failed to do that to Russia, although they very much wanted to ‘cancel’ it. Now, they are beginning to cancel out Ukraine," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman concluded.