Russian Ambassador to US: Ukraine Situation Increasingly 'Alarming' as Washington Ups Weapons Aid

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The situation in Ukraine, with the United States getting deeper into the conflict by supplying more and more powerful weapons to Kiev, looks alarming, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on Saturday.

"The US is being drawn deeper and deeper into a conflict with the most unpredictable consequences for the two nuclear powers," Antonov said on the air of the Soloviev Live show.

Antonov said that Russia and the US are the two powers that are responsible for security in the world and assessed the situation as “alarming” because Washington is supplying more and more powerful weapons to Ukraine, which provokes Moscow to retaliate.

The diplomat added that the US policy also made Europe more dependent on Washington, especially with the freezing of the Nord Stream 2 project.

"Tremendous efforts were made by the Americans to break up the NS1 [Nord Stream 1] project, and finally they succeeded today... The NS2[Nord Stream 2] project just hung up. Who won? Of course, the US, who impose their expensive LNG to the world at high prices. Europe has become more dependent on Washington," Antonov added.

Nord Stream 2 is a gas pipeline project with a capacity to carry 55 billion cubic meters per year, enabling gas transit from Russia across the Baltic Sea to Germany. Both the United States and Ukraine have strongly objected to the project. Moscow urged Western countries to stop politicizing the launch of Nord Stream 2, arguing that it is a commercial project beneficial to both Russia and the European Union.

Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in fending off Kiev's provocations. The United States and other Western countries have since been providing Kiev with financial assistance and arms and exerting economic pressure on Moscow.