Russia warns US about Ukraine weapons – media
Russia has reportedly sent a formal diplomatic note to the US this week in which it warned that the further arming of Ukraine by Washington and allies could lead to “unpredictable consequences,” claims a report by the Washington Post published on Friday.
The outlet says that it has seen a copy of the document, which was sent as US President Joe Biden approved an $800 million military aid package, representing a major expansion in the scope of weapons provided to Kiev.
As the total amount of US military aid to Ukraine since February 24 has reached over $2.5 billion, the note was reportedly forwarded to the State Department by the Russian Embassy in Washington on Tuesday, April 12 and was titled “On Russia’s concerns in the context of massive supplies of weapons and military equipment to the Kiev regime.”
The Washington Post claims that in the letter Russia deemed “multiple launch rocket systems” as “most sensitive” and accused the US and its NATO allies of violating “rigorous principles” governing the transfer of weapons to conflict zones and of being oblivious to the “threat of high-precision weapons falling into the hands of radical nationalists, extremists and bandit forces in Ukraine.”
The letter reportedly accuses NATO of pressuring Ukraine to abandon negotiations with Russia “in order to continue the bloodshed” and faults Washington for forcing other countries to stop military and technical cooperation with Russia and encouraging nations with Soviet-era weapons to deliver them to Ukraine.
“We call on the United States and its allies to stop the irresponsible militarization of Ukraine, which implies unpredictable consequences for regional and international security,” said the note, according to the Washington Post.
Neither the Russian Embassy nor the State Department has yet commented on the letter or its contents, and neither side has issued an official response.
Russia attacked its neighbor in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk Agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.
