"The United States is being deeper and deeper dragged into the abyss of the Ukrainian crisis. The US continues to push the situation in eastern Ukraine to an even greater tragedy. It forces dozens of countries to supply weapons and ammunition to the Zelenskyy regime," Antonov said while commenting on a new package of US military assistance to Ukraine worth $325 million.
He said Washington does not want to give up its main goal: to inflict a strategic defeat upon Russia on the battlefield.
"American politicians need success to justify a thoughtless course in solving the Ukrainian question, to confirm the expediency of spending and to demonstrate “successes” in the fight against the Russian Federation in the run-up to the upcoming 2024 US Presidential election," Antonov said.
He said the United States is not interested in negotiated solutions to the Ukrainian conflict.
"Americans are not ready to stop at anything. They are not interested in negotiated solutions. Nobody is bothered about the fate of Ukraine, which is used only as an iron baton against Russia," Antonov said.
Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 in response to calls by the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics for protection from Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the operation, which targets Ukrainian military infrastructure, aims to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine, and to completely liberate Donbas.
Western nations have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine.