“Washington seeks escalation”: how the United States increases the potential for conflict by increasing the supply of weapons to Ukraine

The United States is getting deeper into the confrontation in Ukraine, and the supply of increasingly powerful weapons to the Kyiv regime speaks of Washington's mood for escalation, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said in an interview with Newsweek magazine.

“The administration completely ignores our concerns, which we communicate to our interlocutors through all available channels.

The practical steps of the White House, which is constantly raising the stakes by sending (to Ukraine. -

) more and more powerful weapons, indicate only one thing: Washington is striving for escalation, ”said the diplomat.

Antonov stressed that Russophobia in Washington "is so dominant over creative activity and common sense that the United States is becoming increasingly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, losing the instinct of self-preservation."

Weapon pumping 

Recall that after the start of the NMD, Washington significantly increased the supply of weapons to the Kyiv regime.

Since the end of February, the US has provided more than $19.3 billion in "security assistance" to Ukraine, according to the Pentagon.

Last week, on December 9, the US military department announced the allocation of another package of military assistance, this time in the amount of $275 million. It included missiles for HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, 80,000 155 mm caliber shells, and means to combat drones , ambulances based on HMMWV off-road vehicles, about 150 generators, and field equipment.

• 155 mm artillery shells delivered to Ukraine

• AP

• © Alex Brandon, File

At the same time, the Pentagon stressed that this assistance package was the 27th withdrawal of weapons from the American arsenals since August 2021.

“Since the beginning of the Biden administration, the United States has provided Ukraine with a total of $20 billion in security assistance,” the US Department of Defense noted.

It is worth noting that earlier in the American media there was information about the intention of the White House to send Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems to the Kyiv regime.

In particular, CNN reported this on December 13, citing government sources.

However, the White House itself did not confirm this information, and the Pentagon said that the military department had nothing to report on the possible delivery of Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine.

In turn, the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that the transfer of such complexes to Ukraine would lead to an escalation of the situation and increase the risk of the US army being drawn into the conflict.

This opinion was expressed on December 15 by the official representative of the Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

“On December 13, the intention of the United States to provide Ukraine with a Patriot missile defense battery was announced.

Previously, many experts, including overseas, doubted the wisdom of such a step, which leads to an escalation of the conflict and increases the risk of direct involvement of the American army in hostilities, ”said the diplomat.

At the same time, Zakharova recalled that all weapons supplied by the West to Ukraine remain a legitimate military target for the RF Armed Forces and will either be destroyed or captured.

Later that day, on December 15, during a briefing, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder sidestepped the issue of possible Patriot deliveries to the Kyiv regime, telling reporters that he had "no announcements of any new security aid packages."

At the same time, Ryder added that the United States allegedly does not seek conflict with Russia, but will continue to supply Ukraine with "the key means that it needs."

“The US is not at war with Russia, and we do not seek conflict.

We are focused on providing Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself,” a Pentagon spokesman said.

Conflict potential

As Yury Rogulev, director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, noted in an interview with RT, Washington clearly does not intend to retreat in the situation around Ukraine and will continue to supply it with weapons in order to try to inflict a strategic defeat on the Russian Federation.

“The United States still hopes to win.

They continue their policy from a position of strength in the hope of defeating Russia.

The result of such a policy will be the prolongation of the conflict, because the United States will continue to supply weapons to Ukraine, they do not intend to retreat.

This should set us up for the fact that the conflict will be long and difficult, ”the expert believes.

• Pentagon

• AFP

• © SAUL LOEB

At the same time, any step, such as transferring systems such as Patriot to Kyiv, will increase the likelihood of direct involvement of the US military in hostilities, Rogulev noted.

“When it comes to complex weapons systems, they have both American and Western European military personnel who advise and indicate how to use these weapons, and sometimes provide direct guidance.

Such presence of foreign military on the territory of Ukraine is fraught with incidents.

At the same time, given the latest publications by The New York Times about the potential elimination of the head of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Gerasimov, there are also fears about the growth of escalation in the United States, since at any moment the process could get out of control, ”the political scientist said.

He stated that a full-scale conflict is now underway on the European continent, in which the resources of dozens of countries are involved.

“Therefore, this brinkmanship that the United States is engaged in is an extremely dangerous policy,” the expert emphasized.

Alexei Mukhin, director general of the Center for Political Information, also believes that the risk of direct and immediate involvement of the United States in the conflict in Ukraine continues to grow.

“Indeed, there is a very big risk that the United States will finally be drawn into this conflict as a belligerent.

In any case, the Western community is already mentally prepared for this.

The media is pumping the civil societies of Western countries with militant moods, and in the end, quantity can turn into quality, ”the political scientist said.

However, at the moment, the United States and other Western countries do not yet have the full support of society, as well as a clear reason to justify direct participation in the conflict, Mukhin added.

“US and European propaganda does not have real facts to justify the prospect of going to war with Russia as an opposing side, and Western politicians feel a negative attitude towards this from a large part of their citizens.

In turn, the Russian Federation already has many reasons and reasons, indicating that the start of a special military operation was fully justified, ”the expert noted.

But the longer the Ukrainian situation develops, the greater the chance that the United States may take unpredictable steps, Alexey Mukhin believes.

“The Western establishment may be clouded, in a state in which they will be ready to go for a military escalation.

The likelihood of this is high.

But it is obvious that such a war would be a disaster for the West.

So far, Washington is throwing Ukraine into the furnace, then it will throw the European Union.

And only then will it come to the United States itself.

This is a very cynical calculation on the part of the American establishment: other countries will be in the fire of war, while the United States hopes to sit out overseas at this time, ”concluded the interlocutor of RT.