Miroshnyk called U.S. arms deliveries to Ukraine a provocation to start the SWO

Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik on January 4 commented on US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's statement about US arms deliveries to Ukraine long before the start of the special military operation (SMO) and called it a provocation to start an open conflict.

"So, what was it he said earlier about 'unprovoked and unmotivated aggression of Russia'," Miroshnik said in a message in his Telegram channel.

He specified that such actions on the part of Washington were the motive for the launch of the SWO.

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The Russian Embassy in Tokyo warned that the transfer of such weapons through any channels would be regarded as a hostile act

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented to Izvestia on Blinken's admission that Washington had been arming Ukraine long before the start of the SWO.

Blinken said in a conversation with The New York Times on January 4 that Washington began sending arms to Kiev long before Russia launched the special operation. He noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) received, in particular, such weapons as Stinger surface-to-air missile systems (SAMs) and Javelin anti-tank missile systems. Later, Washington added Abrams tanks to its supplies and thought about plans to transfer F-16 fighter jets.

Before that, on January 3, the press bureau of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) noted that the West does not rule out the imminent collapse of the AFU's defense and emphasizes the general decline in the country's ability to confront Russia's army. In this regard, the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is trying to prevent such a scenario and is emphasizing the delivery of more and more advanced weapons to Kiev, including longer-range missile systems.

On 1 January, the US portal 19FortyFive reported that US President-elect Donald Trump would have to agree to large territorial concessions from Ukraine in order to end the Ukrainian conflict. In addition, it noted that the future head of the USA would have to publicly declare that Ukraine would never join NATO.