Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said the continued supply of American weapons to Ukraine could provoke a "military confrontation" between Moscow and Washington.
The diplomat voiced this opinion in an interview with the American magazine Newsweek.
“We warn: such actions are dangerous and provocative, because they are directed against our state.
They could lead the US and the Russian Federation onto the path of direct military confrontation.
Any deliveries of weapons and military equipment from the West, carried out by transport convoys through the territory of Ukraine, are a legitimate military target for our armed forces, ”Antonov emphasized.
According to the Russian diplomat, the United States and Western states are “directly involved in the ongoing events” and are provoking “further bloodshed” by continuing to “pump Ukraine with weapons and ammunition.”
At the same time, Antonov recalled that the “military development” of Ukraine by NATO countries began even before the special operation of the Russian Federation: the United States and its European allies “flooded” the Kyiv regime with their weapons against the backdrop of plans announced by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to “get nuclear weapons”.
Commenting on Antonov’s statement, Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, said that Moscow was signaling to Washington that “playing on the verge of a strategic foul” is unacceptable.
“I fully share Antonov's concern.
I think it's provocative, and provocative in a global sense.
If Washington does not change its policy, this will indeed be a new stage in the escalation of international tension.
We are signaling that this is a game on the verge of a strategic foul and a huge international military problem, ”Karasin said in an interview with RT.
In turn, Vladimir Vasilyev, chief researcher at the Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, suggested that Moscow made it clear to Washington that it was not going to tolerate further arms deliveries to Ukraine, accompanied by US military personnel.
“Until recently, Russia has avoided such strikes, realizing that they can quickly lead to an escalation of the conflict, which will directly collide the Armed Forces of Russia and NATO.
I would regard Antonov’s statement as the last warning from the United States before Russia can carry out a corresponding strike, ”Vasilyev said in a comment to RT.
"Reconnaissance in combat"
In the near future, as part of a new appropriation package approved by US President Joe Biden, the Pentagon plans to send one hundred Switchblade loitering ammunition to Kiev.
This type of unmanned vehicles is placed in a regular backpack and is designed to destroy small targets.
At the same time, Kyiv continues to call on the West to provide greater military-technical support and transfer air defense systems, artillery and anti-ship weapons, aircraft, UAVs and surveillance systems to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
American loitering projectiles Switchblade
AP
© cpl.
Alexis Moradian/US Marine Corps
It is worth noting that on April 6, the US Senate approved the lend-lease bill, which simplifies the process of providing military assistance to the Kiev regime.
At the same time, in mid-March, Biden approved an $800 million military assistance package to Ukraine, which provides for the supply to Kiev of 800 Stinger MANPADS, 2,000 Javelin ATGMs, 1,000 light anti-tank guns, 6,000 AT-4 anti-tank systems, 100 tactical UAVs, 100 grenade launchers, 5 thousand rifles, 1 thousand pistols, 400 machine guns and 400 shotguns with ammunition.
“Assistance will be provided in the form of direct arms supplies from the US Department of Defense to the Armed Forces of Ukraine to help them defend their country from an unprovoked and unjustified Russian invasion,” the White House said in a statement.
The Biden administration believes that the US military is transferring "the most effective weapon" to Ukraine.
At the same time, at the official level, the White House denies that the supply of weapons to the Kiev regime could turn into a confrontation between the United States and Russia.
“He (Biden. -
RT
) made it clear that there are logistical difficulties associated with the provision of aircraft.
And he will not make decisions that will lead to a direct conflict between the US and Russian Armed Forces, ”White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said on March 30 during a press briefing.
According to Vladimir Vasiliev, now the United States authorities are discussing various scenarios for countering Russia, up to the introduction of troops into Ukraine under the auspices of NATO or the military formations of the member countries of the alliance.
According to the expert, part of the American elite, apparently, "is looking for various forms of confrontation with Russia."
“There are certain forces in the United States that are ready, as they say, to carry out reconnaissance in force and send US and NATO troops to Ukraine.
From the point of view of this part of the US leadership, it is quite normal if there are various kinds of clashes with parts of the Russian army, but on a limited scale and in a controlled form.
But this is a very dangerous delusion,” says Vasiliev.
Military cargo delivered to Ukraine from the USA
AP
© Efrem Lukatsky
A similar view of the situation is shared by Nikolai Kostikin, an expert from the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis.
In his opinion, far from all statesmen of the United States and other NATO countries are aware of the sad consequences of a military confrontation with Russia.
“Western countries, in fact, are already participating in the armed struggle against Russian troops.
And these are not only thousands of mercenaries sent to Ukraine.
I'll just remind you that, according to our journalists, officers of some NATO countries are blocked in Mariupol along with Ukrainian nationalists.
But this does not scare us and does not stop us.
The West needs to understand that for Russia, the presence of the alliance’s military personnel in Ukraine is not an obstacle in fulfilling the assigned tasks, ”Kostikin emphasized in a conversation with RT.
"Orchestrated pumping"
Experts interviewed by RT believe that the United States will continue to supply weapons to Ukraine provoking Russian strikes, but with a high probability they will be escorted by PMCs, mercenaries or military personnel of European states.
As Vasiliev explained, the supply of weapons to Ukraine is the most effective way for the United States to support the Kiev regime.
Washington's strategic goal, from the expert's point of view, is to prevent the loss of Ukraine oriented to the West and to delay the operation of the Russian Armed Forces.
Therefore, the White House is experimenting with various forms of military assistance.
“The further development of the situation, which Antonov spoke about, will depend on how much and what types of weapons the US will continue to supply,” Vasiliev argues.
At the same time, according to Nikolai Kostikin, the Russian army has all the necessary reconnaissance and technical capabilities to record the supply of weapons to Ukraine, track the movement of foreign convoys around the country and then destroy them.
The expert recalled that Russian officials warned the United States and other Western countries about their readiness to counteract the pumping of weapons into the Kiev regime.
Thus, in mid-March, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, on Channel One, stressed that American convoys with weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine are legitimate targets for the Russian army.
“We warned the United States that the orchestrated pumping of weapons into Ukraine from a number of countries is not just a dangerous move, but an action that turns the corresponding convoys into legitimate targets.
We warned about the consequences of the thoughtless transfer to Ukraine of such types of weapons as man-portable air defense systems, anti-tank missile systems, and so on,” Ryabkov said.
However, as the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation stated, Washington did not take Moscow's warning, trying to continue the line of maximum escalation of the situation.
Captured American weapons supplied earlier by the Armed Forces of Ukraine
RIA News
© Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
According to Kostikin, by pumping up weapons of the Kiev regime, the United States purposefully provokes a further escalation of violence, not caring about the future of Ukraine and Europe, where MANPADS, ATGMs and other lethal weapons can easily leak through criminal schemes.
“I am not sure that all the announced volumes of military aid to Ukraine will reach potential recipients, but some of the weapons, of course, may fall into the hands of Ukrainian formations.
By supplying weapons to Ukraine, the United States is implementing its longstanding policy of wreaking havoc with bloodshed.
Therefore, at least now, the Americans are ready to put anyone under attack if these victims will help advance their political goals, ”summed up Kostikin.