Moscow-. Russian authorities sent a note to the White House to demand a halt to arms sales to the Ukrainian government, the country’s Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov reported today.
Speaking to Russia 24 TV channel, the diplomat denounced Washington’s “trying to further up the ante and aggravate the situation,” referring to the recent announcement of new US financial aid to Kyiv.
He pointed out that the goal of financing and supplying arms to Ukraine is not “to stand firm with Russia, to respect Russian interests in the world and to hear the Russian voice.”
Last night, during a visit to the Ukrainian capital, US Secretary of State and Defense Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin announced that their country will allocate $713 million in military funds from Ukraine and 15 other European countries.
Ukraine will receive more than $322 million, while the rest will be distributed to Central and Eastern European countries, Blinken told journalists waiting for him in Poland after his visit to the Ukrainian capital.
The aid is not in the form of arms, but in financial tranches for specific nations, including Ukraine, to buy the gunless they need.
According to US government sources quoted by the AP news agency, this support will serve to help Kyiv confront Russian troops and Donbass militias and allow it to switch to more advanced weapons and air defense systems, mainly from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
With the new budget, Washington’s military aid to Ukraine will amount to $3.7 billion.
In the Ukrainian capital, senior US government officials met with President Vladimir Zelenskyy and returned to Polish territory on Monday morning.
“The visit of a delegation of high-ranking American officials to Kyiv at this crucial moment for the Ukrainian state is very valuable and important,” Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram account.
He noted that when he met Blinken and Austin, they discussed “defense assistance, tightening sanctions policy against Russia, financial support for Ukraine, and security guarantees.”
The United States is Kiev’s main supplier of arms and financial aid to Russia, as well as the main sponsor of economic, trade and financial sanctions against Moscow.
Russia began a military operation in Ukraine on February 24 after authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics requested help to repel rising aggression and intense bombing in Kiev.
Previously, Moscow had recognized the independence and sovereignty of both territories and signed treaties of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with their leaders, which included the establishment of diplomatic relations and military assistance.