“They don’t just ask for help”: why Moscow considers Kyiv guilty of trying to provoke a clash between Russia and NATO

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov, in an interview with the American edition of Newsweek, accused the Kyiv regime of seeking to provoke a direct military clash between Russia and NATO. 

“The Ukrainian authorities are not only asking Washington for even more military assistance, but are also trying to provoke a direct military clash between the Russian Federation and NATO,” Antonov said.

According to the Russian diplomat, the fall of Ukrainian missiles on Polish territory continues to cause a "significant reaction" in the United States.

“American officials, the media and non-governmental organizations continue to repeat, like a mantra, that “Russia is to blame for everything,” Antonov said.

“The American side resorts to this approach in any difficult situation.

Even when she herself publicly admits that Kyiv is responsible for the deaths of peaceful Polish citizens.”

The diplomat condemned "absurd attempts to shift responsibility" to the Russian Federation, because, in his opinion, they "can only provoke the Kyiv regime, which already feels permissiveness."

Recall that earlier, on November 17, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, answering questions during the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, stated his alleged ignorance of "what happened" in Poland, while he expressed confidence in Russia's guilt.

“We don't know completely.

The world doesn't know.

But I am sure that it was a Russian missile, I am sure that we fired from air defense systems.

But it is impossible to talk specifically about something today - that it was the air defense of Ukraine.

Although we are grateful that no one blames us, because we are fighting against Russian missiles on our territory, ”Zelensky said.

According to him, allegedly only after the investigation it will be possible to draw conclusions whose rocket fell on the territory of Poland.

“Yesterday we insisted that we be included in the joint international commission of inquiry, and late in the evening we received confirmation.

From the very morning, our specialists will go to the site and join this professional community,” Zelensky said.

However, according to The New York Times, disagreements arose between the President of Ukraine and his Western partners in assessing the Polish incident, which led to a public controversy between Kyiv and its allies, including the United States.

• NATO Secretary General

• © NATO press service

Washington's position

Recall that on November 17, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said during a press conference that Washington sees no evidence to refute Poland's conclusions that the missile that fell on its territory was Ukrainian.

According to Blinken, the United States trusts the investigation that the Polish side is conducting on this issue.

At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine and the West have an "obligation to follow the facts." 

In turn, Deputy Pentagon Spokesperson Sabrina Singh said that Washington offered Warsaw assistance in investigating what happened without any change in the configuration of military forces and actions.

“Earlier this week, the Secretary of Defense (USA.

) talked with his Polish counterpart.

Also yesterday, after (meeting.

) the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine, he (the head of the Pentagon.

) clearly stated that we offered Poland assistance against the backdrop of its ongoing investigation.

But with regard to the configuration of forces, the movement of troops and the like, nothing has changed within Poland on this score, ”she noted.

Recall that at the second meeting of the heads of national armaments departments of the countries - members of the Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine, which took place on November 18 in Brussels, issues related to the accelerated procedure for finding suppliers, production, purchase and provision of funds "critical for the defense of Ukraine" were discussed .

Led by Washington's Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Procurement William LaPlante, national armaments leaders and representatives from 45 states, the European Union and NATO discussed building support capabilities in Ukraine, including field repairs and access to spare parts.

At the same time, despite the incident with Ukrainian missiles in Poland, Washington intends to continue to pump weapons into the Kyiv regime.

As the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General Mark Milley, said on November 16 during a briefing, the American side will support Ukraine with "the best types of equipment available," and provide such assistance "as much as necessary."

In addition, the White House continues to seek additional funding from Congress for Ukraine.

According to Western media, we are talking about more than $ 37 billion, and consideration of the request is expected by the current composition of Congress, in which both chambers are still controlled by Democrats.

"Provoking the US and the West"

As noted by Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, according to Washington’s reaction and its actions related to the continuation of the policy of supplying weapons to Kyiv, it is clear that the United States is not embarrassed by the desire of the Kyiv regime to escalate the situation in Ukraine, aimed at unleashing a full-scale conflict between Russia and NATO.

“The current Ukrainian leadership stays in power only due to the fact that it constantly aggravates the situation, provokes the United States and the West as a whole to worsen relations with the Russian Federation, to direct confrontation.

Kyiv does not care about security on the European continent at all.

The Ukrainian authorities are doing everything to undermine stability in the region, ”Olenchenko said in a comment to RT.

A similar position is shared by military expert Yuri Knutov.

According to him, it is no coincidence that after the incident in Poland, Zelensky immediately tried to present it as an attack by Russia on the NATO bloc.

“According to his idea, the alliance was supposed to respond militarily, to intervene in the conflict in Ukraine already openly - using its troops, air force, air defense systems.

All this would definitely lead to a third world war, ”Knutov said in an interview with RT.

According to the expert, in addition to the situation around the incident in Poland, Kyiv regularly requests new types of weapons from the United States and other NATO countries, which also leads to escalation of the situation in the region and aggravation of the situation.

“The Kyiv regime wants to get tanks, the latest air defense systems and other modern weapons systems.

Ukraine is constantly increasing its appetites, and the American authorities play along with it in order to prolong the conflict, weaken Russia.

And, judging by the White House's requests to Congress for additional assistance to Ukraine, Washington is not going to abandon its plans.

We remember that at first the United States sent only portable systems to Kyiv, and then they began to supply heavy weapons, including howitzers and HIMARS MLRS - Washington is increasing the stakes, ”the analyst said.

• Kyiv

• Gettyimages.ru

According to Knutov, until a new congress is formed, the Biden administration will do everything in order to have time to pass through it a decision to increase assistance to Kyiv, since the process of providing such assistance under the Republicans, who received a majority in the lower house, may be slowed down due to their initiatives related to the control of allocated funds and weapons to Ukraine.

In turn, Olenchenko noted that in January the congress, although it will begin work in a new composition, in general, Washington's policy towards Ukraine will not change globally. 

“The bipartisan consensus associated with support for Kyiv and Russophobic sentiments will continue.

Despite the fact that the Republicans are now demanding tighter control over the spending of funds, taking into account the colossal corruption in Ukraine, theft and the flow of American weapons to third countries, Washington will continue to provide assistance to Kyiv, ”the expert concluded.