Russia rebukes the U.S. after Biden comments on potential NATO-Russia war
Anatoly Antonov, Russian ambassador to the United States.
Mark Wilson | Getty Images News | Getty Images
A top Russian official said U.S. President Joe Biden’s warning about a potential direct clash between the U.S. and Russia “is unacceptable for a responsible nuclear power.”
Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, commented on Telegram Thursday that the U.S. was trying to “‘add fuel’ to the fire of the Ukrainian war ‘by proxy.'”
Russia has repeatedly claimed that the war in Ukraine is a “proxy war” and that the country is being used by its Western allies, such as NATO, to try to “defeat” Russia. NATO, which has supplied large amounts of military aid to Ukraine, says it is helping Kyiv to defend its territorial sovereignty after Russia’s unprovoked invasion in early 2022.
“They have completely lost touch with reality, easily talking about the likelihood of a direct clash between the armed forces of our countries,” Antonov wrote.
“This kind of provocative rhetoric is unacceptable for a responsible nuclear power,” the official added.
Antonov’s comments came after Biden pleaded with Republicans on Wednesday for a fresh tranche of military aid for Ukraine, warning that a victory for Russia in Ukraine would strengthen Moscow to such an extent that it could then attack NATO allies and draw U.S. troops into a war.
“If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there,” Biden said, Reuters reported. Russia could then attack a NATO ally, he warned, and then “we’ll have something that we don’t seek and that we don’t have today: American troops fighting Russian troops,” Biden said.
“We can’t let Putin win,” he said.
Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. repeated claims that “Washington and its insatiable military-industrial complex are the direct beneficiaries of the bloodshed in Ukraine” and that Washington was “wreaking havoc around the world just to save American hegemony from decline.”
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