If the US were to supply Ukraine with ammunition and weapons, it would “explode the whole situation” in eastern Ukraine and Russia would be forced to respond “appropriately,” Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.
“It would be a major blow to the Minsk agreements and would explode the whole situation,” TASS quoted Ryabkov as saying.
Moscow would not be able to remain indifferent “to such provocative actions,” he added. “We’ll have to respond appropriately.”
“Is that necessary for those who are allegedly calling for the normalization of the situation in Ukraine? I have serious doubts. People may be irresponsible in their actions, but there must be an end to this madness [of] indulging Kiev’s warmongering,” explained Ryabkov.
The deputy foreign minister’s statement follows a renewed call by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for the US to arm Kiev forces. Poroshenko made the most recent comments during a conversation with US Vice President Joe Biden.
The head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, told reporters on Monday that the US is already supplying Kiev with ammunition and weapons on a “large-scale basis,”noting that pro-government forces are not looking for peace.
Ryabkov added that there is a possible meeting in the works between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry, stating that it could take place next week in Geneva.
“Rather high chances are present that the Russian foreign minister and the US secretary of state will be in Geneva the next week due to the schedules of each of them. Probably, it…implies that they will meet in a bilateral format,” he said.
Earlier, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev stated that if Moscow were to respond to the supply of US arms to Kiev, it would only do so through “diplomatic means.”
3 Comments
Anne
Watch out, the US is going to sneak the weapons in using other countries such as Poland, Lithuania, and UAE.
neo-con artist
it really makes little difference who supplies weapons to the Ukies… once engaged with the DPR/LPR freedom fighters, the weapons will be dropped on site and Ukies will turn tail and run… it’s like taking a rifle from a French soldier in retreat- rifle was never fired, dropped only once
duncan lucas
He is right Russia could not sit back and watch 1000s of East Ukrainians being slaughtered on their doorstep . America has always “rode to the rescue ” of countries it says it has a strategic interest in and these are countries 1000s of miles from its borders.