Washington's approval of Ukraine's strikes on Crimea using Western weapons indicates that the United States has no interest in peace. Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov made this statement on Sunday.
"Washington has totally bent G7 members to its own line with regard to the conflict in Ukraine. Moreover, it has sharply tightened its approaches on two important issues. I am referring to preparations for the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Kiev, as well as unconditional approval of strikes on Crimea with the use of American and other Western weapons. Such steps once again clearly demonstrate that the US has never been interested in peace," he is convinced.
The ambassador added that strikes on Crimea would be seen by Moscow "as an attack on any other entity of the Russian Federation," and urged the United States to be fully aware of Russia's response.
Antonov also pointed to Ukraine's lack of both the infrastructure to operate the F-16s and the necessary number of pilots and maintenance personnel. In Antonov's opinion, this makes one think about the possibility of future involvement of the North Atlantic Alliance in the conflict, when "American fighters will take off from NATO airfields operated by foreign "volunteers.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima that the US and its allies will start training Ukrainian pilots in use of F-16 fighter. Previously, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the US and its allies will discuss which states exactly will send F-16 planes to Ukraine. He also noted that F-16s are not on the list of priority shipments for preparation of Kiev’s counteroffensive.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Sergey Bobylev / TASS
Based on materials from TASS