US Crossed Line By Announcing Decision to Provide Ukraine With Weapons - Moscow

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States crossed the line by announcing a decision to provide Ukraine with weapons, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Saturday.

On Friday, the US State Department announced plans to give Ukraine military assistance to help protect its territorial integrity.

"The United States crossed the line in a sense by announcing a decision to supply weapons of destructive power [to Ukraine]… The US weapons may lead to new victims in a country that is neighboring us, therefore we cannot remain indifferent," Ryabkov said in a statement.

Ryabkov noted that Washington was acting not as a mediator in settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, but as an "accomplice in fueling war." He stressed that Washington was pushing Kiev toward new "bloodshed."

Ukraine, which has been engaged in a military conflict in the southeastern region of Donbass for three years, has repeatedly asked the United States for lethal and non-lethal weapons.

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Russia has objected to this, warning that arms deliveries to Ukraine would only escalate the conflict.