ROME, October 16. /TASS/. The transfer of American Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kiev will lead to escalation and harm the virtually non-existent peace process, US economist, professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University Jeffrey Sachs said.
"US hardliners and the military-industrial complex want escalation, and this is terrible, very dangerous. It will damage the peace process, if we have any. The peace process hardly exists right now because Europe is warmongering, and the US isn't pursuing active diplomacy," Sachs told Russian reporters on the sidelines of World Food Day at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Commenting on the intention to supply Kiev with cruise missiles, Sachs noted that "US-built missiles are already being used to attack inside Russia."
The professor opined that the peace process must be based on the principle of Ukraine's neutrality. He cited the desire to expand NATO, supported by the US and Europe, as the cause of the conflict.
"To this day, there hasn't been any honesty from the West, neither from the United States nor Europe, to stop NATO enlargement. Leave Ukraine be neutral, and then this war can end," Sachs added.