Russia will destroy any weapons West supplies to Kiev — Russian ambassador to US

The Russian army will destroy any weapons that Western countries send to Ukrainian troops, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said on Wednesday.

When asked to comment on the statements of the US State Department spokesman Ned Price about the possibility for the Kiev security forces to attack Crimea with American weapons, he replied:

"It should become obvious to everyone: no matter what weapons the Americans or NATO supply to the regime of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky, we will destroy them. This was the case during the Great Patriotic War, this will be the case now. The appearance of tanks with Nazi symbols on the territory of the former Soviet Union unequivocally aims us at overthrowing the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine and creating normal conditions in the region for good neighborly relations between peoples, as in the old days," Antonov said as quoted by the press service of the embassy.

He stressed that "pumping Ukraine with weapons, whether by the US or other NATO countries, will only lead to an increase in casualties among the civilian population, will create additional difficulties in the former Soviet republic."

"Think about the theses of [President of Russia] Vladimir Putin . It is simply impossible to defeat the Russian Federation. Victory will be ours," Antonov concluded. He also drew attention to the statements of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made at a press conference held on Wednesday following the results of activities of Russian diplomacy in 2022.