Russia issues warning to US over Ukraine

A newly announced deal that could see Washington supply Ukraine with deadly weapons could further inflame the country’s bloody civil conflict and make a lasting peace agreement harder, Russia’s ambassador to the US has cautioned.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Anatoly Antonov said that the ‘Strategic Partnership Document’ signed by American and Ukrainian diplomats was merely “a set of slogans – harmful ones.” According to him, “in almost every line there is a geopolitical tool to oppose Russia.”

Antonov went on to say that “plans to supply weapons to the regime in Kiev will only worsen the situation in southeastern Ukraine. We believe that another opportunity to encourage Kiev to stop the war has been missed.”

The pact, signed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba earlier that day, recommitted Washington to its policy of recognizing Kiev’s territorial claims over the disputed Crimean peninsula….

***

The wording also focuses extensively on the idea that any partnership between the two countries is “founded on…full integration into European and Euro-Atlantic institutions.”