Russia says US rocket supplies to Ukraine risks drawing ‘third country’ into war
‘It’s a direct provocation,’ Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov says
Russia’s foreign minister has claimed a decision by the US to supply advanced rocket systems and munitions to Ukraine, could widen the war and increase the risk of direct confrontation between Moscow and Washington.
American president Joe Biden on Tuesday signalled that the US would supply Kyiv with its High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), a multiple rocket launcher system.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “We believe that the United States is purposefully and diligently adding fuel to the fire.”
And asked later if the US move increased the chances of a third country becoming involved in the conflict, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: “Such risks certainly exist.”
He told a news conference in Saudi Arabia: “It is a direct provocation (by Ukraine), aimed at involving the West in military action.”
Earlier, Lavrov’s deputy, Sergei Ryabkov, told state news agency RIA Novosti that Moscow views American military aid to Ukraine “extremely negatively”.
Russia has previously warned the US that sending weapons to Ukraine was “pouring oil on the flames”.
The advanced rocket systems are part of an estimated $700 (£556) million weapons package.
The United States is providing Ukraine with high mobility artillery rocket systems that can accurately hit targets as far away as 80 km (50 miles) after Ukraine gave “assurances” they will not use the missiles to strike inside Russia, senior administration officials said.
In a New York Times op-ed published this week, Mr Biden said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will end through diplomacy but the United States must provide significant weapons and ammunition to give Ukraine the highest leverage at the negotiating table.
“That’s why I’ve decided that we will provide the Ukrainians with more advanced rocket systems and munitions that will enable them to more precisely strike key targets on the battlefield in Ukraine,” the U.S. president wrote.
The package also includes ammunition, counter fire radars, a number of air surveillance radars, additional Javelin anti-tank missiles, as well as anti-armor weapons, officials said.
Ukrainian leaders have been asking allies for longer-range missile systems.
However, President Biden told reporters that “we’re not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems that strike into Russia”.
He did not rule out providing any specific weapons system, but instead appeared to be placing conditions on how they could be used.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Ukraine had given assurances that it will not use long-range weapons systems provided by Washington against targets on Russian territory.
Meanwhile, German chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday morning that his country will supply Ukraine with modern anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems, stepping up arms deliveries amid criticism that Germany isn’t doing enough to help Kyiv.
Mr Scholz told lawmakers that the government has decided to provide Ukraine with IRIS-T missiles developed by Germany together with other NATO nations.
He said Germany will also supply Ukraine with radar systems to help locate enemy artillery.
Ukraine has also started receiving Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and self-propelled howitzers from the United States, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Saturday.
On the ground, Russian forces pressed closer to the centre of Sievierodonetsk in its drive to grab a swathe of eastern Ukraine.
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