According to Anatoly Antonov, Moscow would not have initiated a special military operation if Washington and its allies had not been inciting Ukraine against the Russian Federation for decadesNEW YORK, November 19.
/tass/. The Ukrainian authorities are trying to provoke a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO. This was stated by the Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov in a comment published on Friday to the magazine Nesweek.
"The Ukrainian authorities are not just begging Washington for even more military assistance, but are also trying to provoke a direct military clash between the Russian Federation and NATO," the embassy's press service quoted Antonov as saying in Russian.
He also said that the Russian Federation would not have initiated a special military operation if Washington and its allies had not turned Ukraine against Russia for decades.
"We emphasize the absolute inconsistency of the thesis that if it were not for our military operation, nothing would have happened. In response to this, we can only say: if the United States and its satellites had not turned Ukraine into an "anti-Russia" for decades, the Russian Federation would not have launched a special military operation," the press service of the embassy quotes Antonov in Russian.
The head of the Russian diplomatic mission also noted that the absurd attempts of the West to shift the blame on Russia "can only provoke the Kiev regime, which already feels permissiveness."
In addition, in connection with the incident with the Ukrainian missile that fell on the territory of Poland, he noted that "US officials, media and non-governmental organizations continue to voice the mantra "Russia is to blame for everything." "The American side resorts to such a technique in any difficult situation. Even when she publicly admits that Kiev is involved in the deaths of Polish civilians," he stated.
On Tuesday, a rocket fell in the village of Przevodow (Lublin Voivodeship), located in eastern Poland on the border with Ukraine, killing two people. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky blamed Russia for this and demanded that the West "start acting."
However, on Wednesday, Polish President Duda said that, according to the assessment of the authorities of the republic, the fallen missile belonged to the air defense forces of Ukraine. The State Department said that the United States Administration is fully confident in the accuracy of the conclusions of the Polish authorities. The Russian Foreign Ministry called Kiev's statements regarding the incident a "gross provocation." According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the missile was fired from the Ukrainian S-300 air defense system.
On November 14, US President Joe Biden said that Washington would not negotiate on Ukraine without the participation of Kiev. Prior to that, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian leadership was still ready to hold talks on Ukraine. He noted that Russia is ready to listen to colleagues from the West if they offer to organize a conversation on defusing tensions taking into account Moscow's interests.
