NATO has been engaging in a “proxy” war against Russia in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. She stressed that the alliance has been "strengthening the Kiev regime's belief that its war crimes and cruelty towards civilians all across Ukraine will be left unpunished".
RELATED:
LIVE: Russia is Preventing a War of Nuclear States - Kremlin
"It is becoming more evident that, although dismissing its direct participation in the conflict, NATO is practically fighting against Russia on Ukraine's side and by using Ukraine's people", Zakharova said in a statement published on the ministry's website.
The spokeswoman added that by sending more and more weapons to Ukraine, NATO contributes to the prolongation of the conflict.
The U.S. and its NATO allies have already provided Ukraine with some 25,000 anti-aircraft systems, and Washington is considering a new arms package for Kiev, U.S. Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently said. He added that Ukraine has already received 60,000 anti-tank systems.
The US and NATO have no interest in peace in Ukraine - they are pouring fuel on the fire and using the Ukrainian people as cannon fodder in their proxy war on Russia.
— Fiona Edwards - #NoToNATO (@Fio_edwards) April 4, 2022
The main cause of war in Ukraine is NATO expansion - threats of further eastward expansion will not bring peace. pic.twitter.com/kxeFAL7pWF
The EU has also joined the list of arms suppliers to Ukraine, having agreed upon a package of military aid worth $1.1 billion.
In its statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry also pointed to the fact that the alliance has been routinely turning a blind eye to the crimes of the Kiev regime.
"Jens Stoltenberg recently avoided commenting on Russian prisoners of war tortured and killed by Ukrainian militants. He said he knew nothing about that. Or maybe he just does not want to know... However, he spoke much about 'the tragedy in Bucha’, saying that once Russian forces leave Ukrainian towns, ‘mass graves and new evidence of atrocities and war crimes’ will emerge. These are double standards that are apparently shared as a common value by the West", the ministry's statement says.