The US accused the government of provoking the conflict between Moscow and Kiev

The conflict between Moscow and Kiev was provoked by the United States. Retired US Armed Forces (AF) Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis said this on his YouTube channel on December 17.

"If we (the United States. - Ed.) had not intervened in their relations, there would be no <conflict> between Russia and Ukraine," he said.

Davis recalled that Washington ignored Moscow's statements that the issue of Ukraine 's NATO membership is an unacceptable step for Russia.

"They (Ukraine. - Ed.) could have chosen any model - the Austrian model or to be like Finland - to live peacefully with Russia and have full freedom of action. All in all not joining the military bloc," the expert noted.

In addition, the retired lieutenant colonel of the US Armed Forces emphasized that the USA had paid dearly for its policy of supporting Ukraine, the goals of which had failed.

"The U.S. benefits from creating risks of war"

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The day before, on December 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at an enlarged meeting of the board of the Russian Defense Ministry that the United States was encouraging the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict by supplying Kiev with weapons and money.

The head of state noted that Washington was using the "mythical Russian threat" as a pretext to intimidate its population. The USA provokes Russia, bringing it to the point where a response is inevitable, and then uses this reaction as a confirmation of its version of Russian aggression, he concluded.

Before that, on December 11, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) had struck a military airfield in Taganrog with six U.S. ATACMS ballistic missiles. Two of them were shot down and the rest were taken off course by electronic warfare. In response to this attack, the Russian army launched a massive strike on critical Ukrainian facilities on December 13.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which Putin announced on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.