WASHINGTON, December 7. /TASS/. The US government does not supply Ukraine with weapons for attacking the Russian territory, US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price has told reporters.
"[Starting from February 24], the United States has provided our Ukrainian partners with precisely what they need to defend themselves, to defend their sovereignty, to defend their independence, to defend their territorial integrity," he said. "We have not provided Ukraine with weapons that it is to use inside of Russia. We have been very clear that these are defensive supplies."
He assured that Washington did not encourage Ukraine to strike targets outside its territory.
"We are providing Ukraine with what it needs to use on its sovereign territory, on Ukrainian soil," the spokesman added.
At the same time, he refused to comment on Kiev’s responsibility for its attempted attack on airfields in Russia.
"First, I am not aware that anyone has officially claimed responsibility for the explosions that have taken place inside of Russia apparently over recent days," he said.
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry told the media that on Monday morning, Kiev attempted strikes with Soviet-made jet drones at the military airfields of Dyagilevo in the Ryazan Region and Engels in the Saratov Region with the aim to disable Russia’s long-range aircraft. The Defense Ministry said the air defense systems of the Aerospace Force intercepted the Ukrainian drones flying at low altitudes. Later, Kursk Region Governor Roman Starovoit said an oil tanker had caught fire near an airfield in Kursk, no casualties reported.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that, in response to a request from the Donbass republics, he made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. He underscored that Moscow does not plan to occupy Ukrainian territories, instead planning to demilitarize and denazify the country. In response, the West started introducing sweeping sanctions against Russia and shipping weapons and military vehicles to Kiev already worth tens of billions of dollars at this point.