Russian Diplomat Accuses US Of ‘Playing With Fire,’ Warns Of Danger Of Escalation
A senior Russian diplomat has warned that the United States is “playing with fire” and is already engaged in an “indirect war” with Russia over its support for Ukraine. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov expressed growing concern over what Moscow perceives as dangerous Western escalation in the ongoing conflict.
In an interview with state-run TASS news agency on Friday, Ryabkov cautioned that the U.S. “somehow fail[s] to realize that, in order to satisfy their own geopolitical ideas, they are approaching a phase in which it will be very difficult to control what is happening and to prevent a dramatic crisis.”
Russia has interpreted recent comments from Western diplomats, including British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as an aggressive shift in position. Both officials have stated that Ukraine has the right to use weapons provided by their countries to strike targets inside Russia.
Ryabkov accused Washington of being oblivious to the grave risks attached to its behavior, saying, “This rhetoric, this drumming, this constant baiting of their allies to help Ukraine even more, to expand their support, shows only one thing: people are living, as they themselves say, ‘in a box.’”
He warned that Russia would respond to the West “in a mirror manner” and put the topic of “red lines” aside.
