On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden announced that his country would send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. However, US officials said that the delivery of the tanks to Ukraine's battlefields and training would take many months, certainly not in time for Ukraine's alleged counteroffensive in spring.
Ryabkov stressed that the decision to send Abrams battle tanks to Kiev was "an extremely destructive step," particularly if considering it "an attempt to stage a clear-cut escalation scenario in Ukraine."
"Paradoxically, US officials argue that sending a wider range of increasingly modern systems, including heavy weapons systems to Ukraine, is not an escalation. And in general, the statements of both US and NATO officials have featured a lot of quotes from [George] Orwell lately — 'peace is war' is literally something that is proclaimed every day from high podiums and high offices in the West... So now, following the decision to send Abrams tanks in significant numbers, there is talk that it is not an escalation. [They are] denying the obvious," Ryabkov said.
The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister also said that the US' decision on Abrams tanks was designed to "line up NATO's ranks" and pointed out that the global community was "increasingly more concerned" by such developments, instigated by "a group of irresponsible Western politicians."
Western countries ramped up their military support for Ukraine after Russia launched a special military operation there in late February 2022, responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. In April 2022, Moscow sent a note to NATO member states condemning their military assistance to Kiev. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that any arms shipments on Ukrainian territory would be "legitimate targets" for Russian forces.