WASHINGTON, August 11. /TASS/. The US administration’s request for additional funding of its military assistance to Kiev demonstrates the US determination to help Ukraine "till the last Ukrainian," the Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on Friday.
"The Administration seizes every opportunity to demonstrate its desire to help its clients in Kiev 'till the last Ukrainian.' Ignores the growing disapproval of such actions by its own citizens. The statements about current and planned deliveries of military equipment, including tanks and cluster munitions, are being made again. The prospects of sending fighter jets, depleted uranium shells, and long-range missiles are being discussed," the Russian diplomat said in a statement, posted on the embassy’s official Telegram channel.
"The amounts are enormous. Everything is at the expense of ordinary Americans. Many questions remain about how these amounts are actually spent. Do all weapons sent from the United States reach Ukraine? Then what about the publications in the media that some of them end up in the hands of drug cartels, organized criminal groups in various parts of the world?" Antonov asked rhetorically.
"I'd like to emphasize that even in the United States experts recognize more often that the chances of a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive are negligible. Western weapons will not help. The situation 'on the ground' will not be changed by the troops, hastily trained to the vaunted 'NATO standards,'" he added. "I'd like to note that Washington is prolonging the conflict. There is some kind of maniacal desire to achieve a Russia's strategic defeat. However all such endeavors are doomed to failure."
The West intensified supplies of weapons and military equipment to the Kiev government since the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. At this point, Ukraine received military aid worth billions of US dollars. On July 7, US President Joe Biden announced that his country had decided to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine due to shortages of conventional shells. On July 13, US Army Lieutenant General Douglas Sims, Director of Operations of the US Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the Ukrainian armed forces had received cluster munitions from the United States.