Russian Ambassador on Ukrainian Officials in the US: They Came for Handouts, Handed Over a List of Targets

The head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Andriy Yermak and the country’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov may have received a promise from Washington to support actions against Russia during their visit to the United States in August, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said.

According to him, Washington’s goal remains the same – to harm Russia with the help of American weapons, “which are being put into Ukrainian hands.”

Antonov admitted that the US made additional promises to Ukraine

The diplomat emphasized that Moscow will not learn about the American-Ukrainian agreements reached on the conflict with Russia after the fact and not in all cases.

I do not rule out that this time the representatives of the Kyiv regime received additional promises of support for military action against Russia. I am sure that in the future all this will be formalized in the form of another “package” of arms supplies to Ukraine.

Anatoly AntonovRussian Ambassador to the USA

As Antonov explained, this is about expanding the scale of actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) on the territory of Russia. He pointed out that the media is discussing Kyiv’s idea of ​​preparing a certain list of objects on the territory of the Russian Federation, which it is proposed to strike with American long-range missiles.

Ukraine presented the US with a list of priority targets in Russia

As reported by CNN, Yermak and Umerov met with representatives of the administration of US President Joe Biden during their visit to the US in late August to persuade them to lift the ban on Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons against targets deep inside Russia.

According to the broadcaster, Ukrainian representatives were to present Washington with a list of priority targets, without strikes on which it would be difficult to change the course of military action towards Ukraine.

Later, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov confirmed in an interview with the TV channel that he had given the US authorities a list of targets for strikes on Russian territory.

The Biden administration is still considering a request to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons against targets deep inside Russia, he said. “I hope they heard us,” Umerov said.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kyiv’s main Western allies must understand that long-range missile strikes on Russian territory are the best chance to force the Kremlin to seek a path to negotiations and ultimately peace.

The head of the State Duma Defense Committee, Andrei Kartapolov, threatened that if the ban on the Ukrainian Armed Forces striking Russian territory with European weapons is lifted, there will be an immediate “harsh and asymmetrical” response from Moscow, which “they will feel immediately.”