US Themselves Should Pay For Ukraines Recovery - Ambassador Antonov

The United States, prolonging the Ukraine conflict, should themselves pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said Wednesday.

"The (US) administration is fully responsible for what is happening in Ukraine. Therefore, it is the United States that has to rebuild the country," Antonov said in a distributed commentary.

The diplomat added that "the Ukraine conflict is a consequence of years-long and purposeful efforts of the United States to create a hotbed of tension near Russia's borders, to turn Ukraine into an 'anti-Russia'. He stressed that the US is now fomenting confrontation, "pumping the republic with powerful weapons and nipping any peace initiatives in the bud."

"While they can pay for the homes destroyed by American weapons, how will Washington value the lives of innocent people? How is the US going to repay the Ukrainians whom they are driving into reckless head-on assaults in today's so-called counteroffensive? The particularly striking thing is the ease with which the Americans are spending money on Ukrainian wards.

The Pentagon can afford to 'overestimate' the cost of military products supplied to Kiev and make a mistake in calculations by several billion Dollars," Antonov said.

The poorest states in Africa, Latin America and Asia have been left without attention against the background of the unprecedented funds sent to purchase weapons for Kiev, the ambassador noted.

"There are places on the planet where people are dying of hunger. At the same time, the United States considers it more urgent to prolong bloodshed and provoke World War III because of the West's de facto involvement in the conflict," Antonov said.