Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov commented on reports about Washington's intention to supply M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv.
In a post on the Telegram channel of the Embassy, Antonov called the possible supplies of Abrams tanks to Ukraine a blatant provocation against Russia. If the Americans take this action, they will not be able to justify it with "defensive weapons" arguments.
The ambassador revealed the consequences of delivering Abrams to Ukraine and promised that all Abrams tanks would have to be destroyed.
"Undoubtedly, if they decide to ship M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv, the Russian military will destroy the American tanks along with all other samples of NATO military hardware," Anatoly Antonov said. "No one should have any illusion about the real aggressor in the current conflict," he added.
Earlier, Al Jazeera TV channel said that US President Joe Biden would announce the supplies of Abrams tanks to Ukraine on January 25. It is believed that the tanks will be contracted.
Russian Ambassador to the USA also accused Washington of purposeful attempts to cause Russia to suffer a strategic defeat. Washington "gave the green light" to the use of US military hardware to attack the Crimea, Antonov said.
The United States covers up radical crimes against residents of Donbass, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, he also said.
"An increasing number of officials and experts in America admit that this is a proxy war with Russia," he said. The United States has been increasing the scale of its assistance to Ukraine, especially during the period of Russia's military success," Antonov noted.
According to Politico, the United States will give Ukraine at least 30 M1 Abrams tanks as part of the military assistance package.
At the same time, the US administration announced that Washington would supply from 30 to 50 battle tanks. A tank battalion of the American army counts 44 vehicles. The United States also intends to train soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine how to use the vehicles.