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US military aid to Ukraine potentially very dangerous: Kremlin

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia strongly opposes “Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations” that have been supported by the US side.

US military aid to Ukraine potentially very dangerous: Kremlin

Photo: IANS

The Kremlin said that the US plans to provide military assistance to Ukraine could prompt Kiev to opt for a coercive settlement of the country’s crisis.

U.S. President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Washington on Wednesday that the United States was “firmly committed” to Ukraine’s territorial integrity and offered $60 million in new security aid.

Ukrainian troops have battled Russian-backed forces in its eastern Donbass region since 2014, a conflict Kyiv says has killed 14,000 people.

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov raised concerns about plans for U.S. military aid in comments to reporters in the city of Vladivostok in Russia’s far east.

“We believe that this could potentially be the cause of Ukraine’s unpredictable actions in the form of attempts to forcefully resolve the internal conflict in southeast Ukraine. This is very dangerous,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily briefing on Thursday.

“…. to put it simply, we’re talking about a Ukrainian-American friendship against Russia. That is to say, they’re friends not for themselves, but against Russia. This … can only be a cause for regret,” he said.

He said that Russia strongly opposes “Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations” that have been supported by the US side. The spokesman recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly spoken out against NATO’s expansion and military build-up close to Russian borders.

Peskov said that it was unfortunate that the US-Ukraine relationship is primarily marked by a hard stance against Russia. “They are friends not for themselves, but against Russia. This can also cause the only regret,” he added.

The US and Ukraine have signed a Strategic Defence Framework agreement, which is set to define a new stage of bilateral cooperation in the field of defense and security.

The deal inked on Wednesday during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington creates conditions for a significant strengthening of bilateral cooperation in defense and provides international legal support from the US for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Kiev.

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