UK-Ukraine Security Agreement to Not Allow Kiev to Exit Conflict Via Negotiations - Moscow

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The agreement on the security cooperation between the United Kingdom and Ukraine suggests that Kiev will not be allowed to exit the conflict through negotiations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

"The agreement signed in Kiev indicates that Ukraine is literally left with no chance to get out of the conflict through negotiations, making it a bargaining chip in the adventures of the Anglo-Saxons and keeping it on the current Euro-Atlantic and anti-Russian confrontational course," Zakharova told reporters.

Last week, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the 10-year security cooperation agreement in Kiev.

Sunak also announced the largest aid package of 2.5 billion pounds ($3.2 billion) for Ukraine for the next fiscal year during his visit to Kiev.

By supplying Ukraine with new weapons and signing the new defense agreement with Kiev, London is using the nation as "a geopolitical instrument against Russia" and therefore depriving Kiev of the chance to end the conflict through negotiations, the Russian Embassy in London said last week in a written comment seen by Sputnik commenting on the development.

"This time, Rishi Sunak has vowed to allocate even more funds for the purchase of lethal weapons, including long-range missiles and attack drones. These supplies will not change the general balance of power and the catastrophic outcome of the conflict for Ukraine, but they will contribute to the prolongation and intensification of hostilities, which will lead to new casualties. The crocodile tears of the UK leadership over Ukraine's ruined future look hypocritical against this background,"the statement read.

Instead of spending taxpayers' money on new military aid to Kiev, the UK government should use the funds to address "a multi-layered crisis of [the rising] cost of living, mass illegal migration, energy 'hunger' and problems of the healthcare system" in its own country, the Russian embassy said.