Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, said that “the United States is approaching a dangerous edge” by talking regarding the passport Kyiv’s use of Western weapons in the bombing of Donetsk and Lugansk Kherson and Zaporizhia provinces.
The Russian ambassador added: “They are approaching that dangerous edge that we have warned many times clearly and precisely. The United States is turning into a party to the Ukraine conflict.”
The Russian ambassador indicated that Washington is urging the Kyiv authorities to Continue to use Western weaponsAnd it does not realize the seriousness of these actions, according to what was reported by the Russian media.
“Diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis cannot be effective while the collective West uses the Zelensky regime as a military mercenary once morest Russia. Our steps to defend the homeland will be firm and decisive,” Antonov said.
Earlier, the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, announced that the United States does not oppose the use of Western weapons by the Ukrainian army in areas that may join Russia.
“We and many other countries have made clear our position, and we will never recognize Russia’s annexation of any Ukrainian territory,” Blinken said during a joint press conference with his Indian counterpart Subramaniam Jay Shankar in Washington, on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken
“I also made it clear that Ukraine has the right to defend itself in its entirety, including the restoration of lands illegally acquired by Russia,” he said.
“The weapons and equipment that we and other countries provide are used very effectively for these very purposes, as we have seen in northeastern Ukraine and what we see in the south,” he said.
“Any change in the status of the territories that Russia will annex is nothing to us or to the Ukrainians. The Ukrainians will continue to do what they deem necessary to restore the lands that were taken from them, and we will continue to support them in those efforts,” he stressed.
On September 23 the referendum on joining Russia began, in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. Voting lasted five days, until September 27.
According to the results of the vote count, the vast majority of the population of these regions supported joining Russia.