The head of the press service of the State Department, Ned Price, said that the United States is giving Ukraine "exactly what" it needs for self-defense WASHINGTON, August 17.
/tass/. The US administration continues to believe that the potential expansion of the conflict in Ukraine, its possible spread to Europe, the threat of a clash between Russia and NATO would not meet anyone's interests. This was confirmed on Wednesday at a regular briefing for journalists by the head of the press service of the State Department, Ned Price, commenting on the call of a number of American retirees to expand the volume of military assistance to Kiev, including supplying it with ammunition for HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems with a range of 300 km.
According to the representative of the American Foreign Ministry, the United States is transferring to Ukraine "exactly what" it needs for self-defense. "At the same time, we also clearly signaled that the interests of Ukraine, the interests of NATO, the interests of Europe, our (Americans - approx. TASS) it does not meet the interests of turning Russia's aggression against Ukraine into a wider outbreak, spreading this war beyond the borders of Ukraine, more widely into Europe, or potentially drawing Russia into a conflict with NATO and the United States. It's not in anyone's interests," Price said.
The appeal he was responding to was contained in an article published earlier on Wednesday in The Hill newspaper. The authors of this opus were a number of former US officials, including those who have taken anti-Russian positions in recent years. The article was signed, in particular, by former American ambassadors to Russia and Ukraine Alexander Vershbow and John Herbst, former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, and then sanctions coordinator Daniel Fried, retired Generals Philip Breedlove, Wesley Clark and Ben Hodges.
At the end of July, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin noted that Washington does not intend to supply Ukraine with shells for multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) HIMARS, having a range of over 80 km. "The range of the HIMARS projectile [currently being transferred by Washington to Kiev] is 80 km. So this is a fairly good range," he stressed.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other Russian officials repeatedly drew attention to the danger of the spread of weapons supplied by the West to Ukraine in other regions. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov warned that the militarization of Ukraine by the West directly threatens European and global security.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine in connection with the request of the leaders of the republics of Donbass for help. He stressed that Moscow's plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories, and the goals are demilitarization and denazification of the country. The West, in response to Russia's decision, began gradually imposing numerous and large-scale sanctions against it. Along with this, Western states have begun to supply weapons and military equipment to Kiev for amounts estimated at this stage in the tens of billions of dollars. A number of Western politicians have admitted that it is, in fact, an economic war against Russia. As Putin stated on March 16, the Western sanctions policy towards Moscow has all the signs of aggression. He pointed out that the policy of containing Russia is a long-term strategy of the West.
