Newsman: Russia officially issued a warning to the US and all its other allied nations against supplying weapons to Ukraine. The formal warning note by Russia was sent to the US on Tuesday. Russia formally protested the US’ ongoing shipment of weapons to Ukraine, sending a diplomatic note to the State Department warning of “unpredictable consequences” should the support continue, according to two US officials. The Washington Post first reported on the document. But US Reacts Sharply to Russia’s Warning on Supporting Ukraine says, ‘Nothing Will Dissuade Us.’
In Moscow, a foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed Russia had sent diplomatic notes to the United States and other nations about supplying weapons to Ukraine but did not say what the messages contained, Interfax news agency reported.
“We call on the United States and its allies to stop the irresponsible militarization of Ukraine, which implies unpredictable consequences for regional and international security,” the Post quoted Russia saying in a note to the United States.
Russia’s warning against the West came in a formal diplomatic note from Moscow, a copy of which was reviewed by several media outlets in the US.
The two-page-long diplomatic note, which was forwarded to the US State Department by the Russian Embassy in Washington, warned that American and NATO weapons shipments are “adding fuel” to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. It also said that deliveries of arms could lead to what Russian diplomats refer to as “unpredictable consequences”.
Russia’s warning came just a few hours after the reports spread of the Pentagon’s new package, US President Joe Biden approved the shipment of $800 million of military assistance to Kyiv amid war with Moscow. This package included, for the first time, long-range artillery weapons such as howitzers with an aim to match Russia’s military strength. And new US military aid package for Ukraine was being readied.
The US has for the first time agreed to provide Kyiv with the types of high-power capabilities some officials in US President Joe Biden’s administration viewed as too much of an escalation risk a few short weeks ago, including 11 Mi-17 helicopters, 18 155 mm Howitzer cannons and 300 more Switchblade drones.
The note, known as a démarche, was sent earlier this week as the administration was preparing to announce that it would be sending a new military aid package worth $800 million to the Ukrainians.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said
“Nothing will dissuade” United States President Joe Biden’s administration from unwavering support for Ukraine.. When asked about the impact of a diplomatic cable from Russia warning the US not to continue arming Ukraine, Price told CNN that Russians have conveyed some things in the private and in public but “nothing” will deviate the US from the chosen “strategy” amid Russia-Ukraine war.
“The Russians have said some things privately, they have said some things publicly; nothing will dissuade us from the strategy that we’ve embarked on,” Price said while noting that he is “not in a position to confirm any private diplomatic correspondence.”
“If the allegation from the Kremlin is that the US and our partners around the world are providing billions of dollars worth of security assistance to our Ukrainian partners, precisely what our Ukrainian partners have requested, and that our Ukrainian partners are using that very security assistance to extraordinary effects to repel this Russian aggression, well, then we’re guilty as charged,” he added.
