A senior Russian diplomat said yesterday that the USA entered into an indirect war with Moscow a long time ago and is playing with fire over Ukraine, behaving in such a way that the situation could get out of control.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov's comments in an interview with state news agency TASS reflect Russia's growing concern over what Moscow sees as a dangerous Western escalation in Ukraine as Russian forces advance in several areas, Reuters reports.
"We warn them that they are playing with fire. They have long been in a state of indirect war with the Russian Federation, Ryabkov said, referring to the US.
"They somehow do not understand that, in an effort to satisfy their own geopolitical ideas, they are approaching a stage where it will be very difficult to control what is happening and prevent a dramatic crisis".
Russia has interpreted recent comments by Western diplomats as an aggressive shift in stance, and the Russian Defense Ministry said this month that President Vladimir Putin had ordered exercises to test tactical nuclear weapons, which officials said was a response to Western rhetoric.
British Foreign Minister David Cameron said during his visit to Kiev on May 3 that Ukraine has the right to use the weapons provided by Britain for attacks inside Russia, and that it is up to Kiev to decide on that.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made similar comments about the weapons sent by the US during a visit to Kiev on Wednesday, when he accused Putin of "stepping up another offensive against Ukraine" in the east.
Blinken said that Washington "did not encourage or enable attacks outside of Ukraine, but ultimately Ukraine must decide for itself how to conduct the war."
Ukraine is attacking military and energy targets across Russia, which is bombing targets inside Ukraine in attacks that have killed thousands of civilians to weaken Moscow's military capabilities.
Russia has also been angered that the US and the European Union are considering using frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine. Moscow accuses Washington of trying to force European countries to take more radical steps to thwart its plans in Ukraine.
Ryabkov told TASS that Washington seems unaware of the serious risks associated with his behavior.
"This rhetoric, this drumbeat, this constant urging of their allies to help Ukraine even more, to expand their support, shows only one thing: people live, as they say, 'in a box,'" he said.
"This is a big risk of the current situation, because it is impossible to reach them (the Americans).
Ryabkov expressed regret that the West has adopted an attitude of strategic uncertainty and ambiguity towards Russia, trying to make it difficult for Moscow to predict how NATO will react in various situations, including nuclear weapons.
"Russia will put aside the issue of 'red lines' and will respond to the West in the same way," Ryabkov said.
Russian diplomacy with the West is now in crisis management mode and focused on trying to ensure that tensions do not escalate into full-scale conflict, he added.
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