04:25Russia: Tank deliveries to Ukraine 'will not change situation' but bring West 'to new level of confrontation with our country' - Zakharova
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova commented on the decision of NATO allies to supply tanks to Ukraine, during a weekly briefing on Friday.
"We would like to remind you once again that any Western weaponry that enters Ukraine becomes a legitimate target of the Russian armed forces. <...> The deliveries of tanks will certainly not change the situation in favour of the Kiev regime, but they bring Western countries to a new level of confrontation with our country and with our people," Zakharova said.
The MFA representative said that 'the armoured vehicles sent to Ukraine are intended for offensive combat operations'.
"The US presidential administration makes no secret at all that the new deliveries are intended to facilitate, as they say, the liberation of Ukrainian territories, including Crimea," Zakharova stressed.
The spokesperson also claimed that 'Crimea is not Ukrainian territory'.
"It was and will be Russian territory," Zakharova added.
A referendum was held in Crimea in 2014, which found that 97 per cent of voters wanted Russian integration. Moscow backed the decision, while Kiev and much of the West refused to recognise that vote.
On Wednesday, the German government approved the supply of 14 Leopard tanks from Bundeswehr stocks to Ukraine. Later that day, US President Joe Biden announced that Washington would also deliver 31 M-1 Abrams tanks. The UK is already sending 14 Challenger 2 tanks, while Norway, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Finland and Portugal have also previously confirmed their readiness to send stocks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his allies for the latest decisions to send 'modern and very necessary' equipment and called for jets and long-range missiles too.
Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov claimed that Moscow saw the supply of the weapons by Western countries to Ukraine as 'direct involvement' in the conflict.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
04:25Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova commented on the decision of NATO allies to supply tanks to Ukraine, during a weekly briefing on Friday.
"We would like to remind you once again that any Western weaponry that enters Ukraine becomes a legitimate target of the Russian armed forces. <...> The deliveries of tanks will certainly not change the situation in favour of the Kiev regime, but they bring Western countries to a new level of confrontation with our country and with our people," Zakharova said.
The MFA representative said that 'the armoured vehicles sent to Ukraine are intended for offensive combat operations'.
"The US presidential administration makes no secret at all that the new deliveries are intended to facilitate, as they say, the liberation of Ukrainian territories, including Crimea," Zakharova stressed.
The spokesperson also claimed that 'Crimea is not Ukrainian territory'.
"It was and will be Russian territory," Zakharova added.
A referendum was held in Crimea in 2014, which found that 97 per cent of voters wanted Russian integration. Moscow backed the decision, while Kiev and much of the West refused to recognise that vote.
On Wednesday, the German government approved the supply of 14 Leopard tanks from Bundeswehr stocks to Ukraine. Later that day, US President Joe Biden announced that Washington would also deliver 31 M-1 Abrams tanks. The UK is already sending 14 Challenger 2 tanks, while Norway, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Finland and Portugal have also previously confirmed their readiness to send stocks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his allies for the latest decisions to send 'modern and very necessary' equipment and called for jets and long-range missiles too.
Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov claimed that Moscow saw the supply of the weapons by Western countries to Ukraine as 'direct involvement' in the conflict.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.