MOSCOW, September 14. /TASS/. The US wants to ramp up its assistance to Armenia as a way to gain another anti-Russian foothold in South Caucasus, Chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky said.

US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim said earlier that the US should increase its comprehensive assistance to Armenia, including in the defense and security areas.

"Now Washington is ready to ‘help’ Yerevan, apparently dreaming of creating a new anti-Russian foothold in South Caucasus. But all its plans to weaken Russia are crumbling before our eyes. This is what we should remember! ‘Sponsorship’ from across the ocean has not benefited any country in the world, bringing only misery and grief, blood and destruction. And this is exactly what American-style ‘partnership’ and ‘development assistance’ eventually leads to," Slutsky, who is also the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, said on Telegram.

He said that the West moved along the same lines to build ties with Kiev. We can see the result now, he said, as Ukraine has turned into a "US puppet," a bankrupt country with a ruined economy, external governance and lost sovereignty, a country where tens of thousands of Ukrainians gave their lives for someone else's interests and ambitions.