Anatoly Antonov also stressed that "the atrocities of the Zelensky regime" in the United States are quietly turning a blind eyeWASHINGTON, February 19.
/tass/. The United States Administration is trying to justify its own actions to foment the crisis in Ukraine with allegations of crimes against humanity attributed to Russia. This was stated on Saturday by Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov, commenting on such statements by American officials.
"We consider such insinuations as an unprecedented attempt to demonize Russia in terms of the degree of cynicism within the framework of the hybrid war unleashed against us. There is no doubt that the purpose of such attacks by Washington is to justify its own actions to foment the Ukrainian crisis. First of all, the unrestrained militarization of the Kiev regime," the press service of the embassy quotes the words of the head of the diplomatic mission.
As Antonov recalled, "once the Americans said that they would supply the republic exclusively with defensive weapons, and now they are transferring heavy armored vehicles, artillery, multiple rocket launchers with long-range ammunition."
"The United States supplies the Nazis with intelligence, trains the militants," the ambassador said. - It becomes a blatant action that, at the will of the White House, tanks with crosses will go to our country, just like 80 years ago. After these statements and steps, how can we trust the West at all and try to negotiate something? It turns out that one thing was said to our face for a long time, but they did exactly the opposite."
At the same time, he stressed that "the atrocities of the regime of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky is here (in the USA - approx. TASS) calmly close their eyes." "Local officials ignore the use by the Armed Forces of Ukraine of prohibited ammunition of indiscriminate destruction, which are imported into Ukraine in huge quantities and take the lives of hundreds of civilians. This fact was confirmed by American humanitarian NGOs, which are difficult to suspect of pro-Russian sentiments," the head of the Russian diplomatic mission said.
The American authorities, he continued, "prefer to turn away from the horrific scenes of the shooting of unarmed Russian soldiers taken prisoner." "We forgot about the chilling burning of people in the Odessa House of Trade Unions in 2014. The United States completely ignores the strikes that have been going on for many years on settlements in the Donbas - kindergartens, schools, hospitals and residential buildings," Antonov said. "Although it should be clear to any sober-minded person that no threats come from there."
"Such duplicity of Washington is outrageous. Why is the State Department silent about the atrocities of Ukrainian thugs? Where are the experts of American human rights organizations looking? Why does no one call for punishing the fascist thugs?" - the ambassador concluded.
US Vice President's statements
According to US Vice President Kamala Harris, the US has officially established that Russia allegedly committed a "crime against humanity" in Ukraine.
"In the case of Russia's actions in Ukraine, we have reviewed the evidence," she said, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. - We know the legal standards. There is no doubt that this is a crime against humanity. The United States has officially established that Russia has committed a crime against humanity."
On March 3, 2022, 45 of the 57 OSCE participating States launched the Moscow Mechanism of this international organization to form an independent mission to establish the impact of the Russian military operation on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and to identify possible war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Russian operation. In the same month, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov categorically rejected the words of the chief prosecutor of the ICC in The Hague about the allegedly weighty grounds for the case against the Russian Federation in connection with the events in Ukraine.
