Russian Ambassador Antonov urged the United States to force Kiev to start negotiations, and not “pump up” weapons

Anatoly Antonov. Photo: Maxim Blinov / RIA Novosti

Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov called on the United States to force Kiev to sit down at the negotiating table. His words are quoted on the Russian embassy's Facebook page.

According to the ambassador, instead of forcing Kiev to sit down at the negotiating table with Donetsk and Luhansk, Washington decided to pump weapons to Ukraine. “It was enough for the White House to force the official representatives of Kiev to sit down at the negotiating table with their compatriots from Donetsk and Luhansk. The win for all parties to the conflict is obvious,” Antonov said.

Earlier, Antonov said that thanks to the support of the United States, Kiev believed in the possibility of resolving the conflict around Ukraine by force. In addition, the Russian diplomat noted that for seven years, Washington has encouraged Kiev's inaction in the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that Kiev plans to resolve the crisis situation through diplomacy, however, if this cannot be achieved by peaceful means, then the country is ready to fight for every inch of its land.