US weapons supplies to Kiev via Turkey will delay Ukraine conflict resolution: Expert

MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/. Any potential supplies of US-origin weapons by Turkey to Kiev will put off the prospect of resolving the Ukraine conflict, Ivan Timofeyev, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, told TASS.

"How Russia sees it, this will only make peace a more distant prospect. That’s not how the Americans see it. Because the United States is not seeking a military defeat, the more so a crushing military defeat, for Ukraine," the expert said. "They [the Americans] would like this to be a compromise based more or less on equal terms, without Kiev actually losing. And the Russian side is actually pushing for solving the objectives that have been set, including for achieving a military success. Therefore, our positions inevitably differ here," he explained.

Earlier, the US Department of State notified Congress that Ankara could transfer obsolete US weaponry worth $255.9 million to Kiev, including multiple rocket launchers and munitions, 203mm shells and ATACMS missiles, adding that the US government was prepared to authorize the package.

Additional US weapons supplies to Kiev via Turkey will only prolong the agony of the Banderite regime, lead to more deaths, and inevitably harm Moscow’s relations with Washington and Ankara, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned.