MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov warned on Monday that Washington's plans to expand military training in Ukraine would result in the destabilization of situation in the region and added that Moscow's position on the issue had already been communicated to the US officials.
Earlier in August, US President Donald Trump signed the country's defense budget, which, in particular, stipulated that Washington would consider the possibility of holding the naval drills in the Black Sea with the participation of Georgia and Ukraine more frequently in order to counter Russia's influence in the region.
"There are plans, as I have heard, to expand training activities, in other words, drills in the immediate vicinity of our borders. which is a direct route to destabilization, the United States is playing with fire, we are talking about it explicitly and, in particular, informing [US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt] Volker of it," Ryabkov said in 60 Minutes show broadcast by Russia's Rossiya-1 tv channel.
The diplomat added that Volker was increasingly leaning toward the position of Kiev, which undermined the possibility of reaching any results on peace process in Ukraine.
"[The United States] is not ready to act frankly and consistently in order to fully implement the entire package of the Minsk measures, which requires increasing pressure on Kiev rather than encouraging revenge sentiments," Ryabkov stressed.
Russia has repeatedly warned the United States against providing military assistance to the crisis-torn Ukraine. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the US military assistance to Ukraine impedes implementation of the Minsk agreements on the conflict settlement.
In April 2014, Kiev launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed republics in the Donbas region which refused to recognize the new Ukrainian government that came to power in what they perceived to be a coup. The conflicting sides signed the Minsk peace accords in February 2015 to end the fighting in the crisis-torn region, but the situation has remained tense, with both parties accusing each other of ceasefire violations.
