NEW YORK, December 17. /TASS/. Ukraine’s authorities have allegedly made an attempt to assassinate General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

According to the daily, Kiev allegedly launched the attack when Gerasimov was on the front line. The newspaper gives neither the date nor any other information about the attack in question.

However, the daily said, Washington was against Kiev’s plans to kill Gerasimov for the worries that an attempt on his life could lead to an escalation. The Americans withheld the information about the general’s movements from the Ukrainians, and then asked "Ukraine to call off an attack — only to be told that the Ukrainians had already launched it."