US endorsement of Ukrainian military strikes in Crimea with the help of Western weapons suggests that Washington is not interested in peace. This was stated by Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov, transmits CASS.
According to the ambassador, the United States has completely subordinated the G-7 participants to its line regarding the conflict in Ukraine, and has also hardened approaches on two important issues: preparations for the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Kiev and the unconditional approval of strikes in Crimea using American and Western weapons.
“Such measures once again clearly demonstrate that the United States has never been interested in peace,” Antonov explained.
The ambassador also noted that Moscow would view the strikes on the peninsula “as an attack on any other subject of the Russian Federation”, and urged Washington to be fully aware of Russia’s response.
Also, Antonov drew attention to the lack of infrastructure in Ukraine for operating the F-16, the required number of pilots, as well as maintenance personnel. According to the ambassador, this raises the possibility of future NATO involvement in the conflict, when “American fighters take off from NATO airfields, controlled by foreign “volunteers”.
Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security Jake Sullivan declared that the White House does not oppose the Ukrainian Armed Forces strikes in Crimea. “We said we would not allow Ukraine to use American and Western weapons to hit Russia. And we believe that Crimea is Ukraine,” he explained.
During the G7 summit in Hiroshima, US President Joe Biden said his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy had assured that Kiev would not use F-16 fighter jets to carry out strikes against Russia. At the same time, according to Biden, American planes can be used in areas where Russian troops are located “in Ukraine and in this area”. Biden explained that Ukraine will need the F-16s not for currently planned military operations, but for longer-term military operations.
After the outbreak of the military conflict in Ukraine, Kiev repeatedly declared that it intended to return Crimea to its control. Zelenskyy said that the military conflict would end only with the return to the borders of Ukraine from 1991. The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, noted that the Ukrainian authorities should “do everything so that by the summer (2023) Crimea returns home”. The Kremlin has warned that Ukraine’s attempts to return Crimea will be seen as alienation from Russian territory. Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said that if Kiev tries to retake the peninsula, it will become the basis “for the use of all means of protection, including those provided for by the fundamental doctrine of the nuclear deterrence”.
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