US Brushes Off Ukraine's Blatant Terrorist Activities

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States turns a blind eye to the fact that Ukraine is no longer hiding its terrorist actions, the Russian Embassy in Washington said in a statement.

"The recent reaction by the US State Department’s representatives regarding their alleged ignorance about the statements of the leadership of the Ukrainian military intelligence about the involvement of the Kiev regime in the murders and attempts on Russian journalists is outrageous," the embassy said.

"Washington prefers to turn a blind eye to the fact that Kiev, having secured all-round American support, no longer hides its terrorist actions. Pumping weapons, intelligence, money into Ukraine, as we can see, does not stop," it said.

The embassy said the US allows itself to talk about whether or not to designate Russia as a country sponsoring terrorism.

"At the same time, the US allows itself to talk about whether or not to designate Russia, which is fighting Nazism in its most extreme manifestations, as a "country, sponsoring terrorism." What an exceptional hypocrisy!" it said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday declined to rule out the possibility of the United States designating Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, following questioning on the matter by Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Commenting on the recent CIA attempt to recruit Russian spies, Russian Embassy in Washington said that it was not the first provocation, this is a coordinated campaign as part of a hybrid war against Russia.

The CIA launched on Tuesday a Telegram channel called Securely Contacting CIA, aimed to recruit Russian citizens. The channel posted several messages, including a video urging Russians to collaborate, and the coordinates through which to contact CIA on the dark web.

"This is not the first brazen provocation by the American intelligence services. On the territory of the Embassy, for example, while using YouTube, the so-called targeted advertising in the form of recruitment videos on behalf of the FBI regularly pops up. You can also see the phone numbers which you can dial and become a traitor. It started last year," Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said.

He added that the West is trying to sow confusion among Russians.

"We are talking about a coordinated campaign under the hybrid war unleashed against the Russian Federation. The ill-wishers in the West, ever since the defeat of Napoleon, realized the steadfastness of our country against attacks from outside. And now, having failed to impose their sanctions blitzkrieg and realized the impossibility of inflicting a military defeat on us, they are trying to sow confusion in the Russian society," Antonov said.

Referring to the Black Sea grain deal, Russian Embassy in Washington stated that Washington forgets about the "package" nature of the agreement.

"Washington deliberately forgets about the "package" nature of the "Istanbul agreements". About the specific requirements laid down in the Russia-UN memorandum that are not being met," Antonov said.

"We mean the restoration of the admission of Russian ships to foreign ports, the normalization of the situation with the insurance of dry cargo ships, the removal of barriers to the sale of agricultural equipment and technologies to our country, the reconnection of Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT system, the launch of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline," he added.

Antonov said the US is turning the data on deliveries' geography upside down.

"Moreover, the Americans are again turning the data of deliveries geography upside down. To put it mildly, the statement that Ukrainian grain goes to needy states is not true. Only 2.5% of the 30 million tons of cargo went to indeed hungry. But domestic products are delayed for many months in western harbors, even if we are talking about gratuitous humanitarian flights," diplomat emphasized.

Russia has agreed to extend the Black Sea grain deal with the hope that all issues with its implementation will be resolved, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said on Wednesday.

Russia, Ukraine, Turkiye and the UN reached an agreement on July 22, 2022 to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships carrying food and fertilizer exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports. On March 18, 2023, Russia extended the deal for 60 days, until May 18.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative is an integral part of a package agreement. The second part - the Russia-UN memorandum, designed for three years - envisions the unblocking of Russian exports of food and fertilizers, the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank to SWIFT, the resumption of supplies of agricultural machinery, spare parts and services, the restoration of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline and a number of other measures. Moscow says this part of the package agreement has not been implemented yet.