Moscow hopes that Washington will show enough prudence to prevent the situation from escalating to the point of a direct confrontation, Alexander Darchiev, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's North American Department, has told TASS in an interview.
"One can only hope that Washington will heed the voice of reason and does not let the situation escalate to the point of a direct confrontation between Russia and the United States. Otherwise, severed diplomatic ties will become a reality, with all due consequences," the Russian diplomat said.
Darchiyev stressed that it was the United States who "started to spin the flywheel of destroying bilateral relations."
"Washington opted to self-isolate from Moscow, but is now trying to shift the blame, as if someone else brought those relations to the point of no return, not the current administration," he said. "We are not seeking to sever them completely, but we will not tolerate malicious provocations that leave us with no other choice.".
North Korea rejects claims of alleged arms supplies to Russia — Yonhap
The Foreign Ministry of North Korea rejected claims of alleged arms supplies to Russia, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported citing the ministry’s statement.
"The Japanese media's false report that the DPRK offered munitions to Russia is the most absurd red herring, which is not worth any comment or interpretation," Yonhap quoted a ministry spokesman as saying in an English-language statement, published by the state-run news agency KCNA.
US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby claimed on Thursday that North Korea has supplied weapons to Russia’s Wagner private military company and was planning new supplies. UN Secretary-General's Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a briefing later in the day that the global organization had no information about alleged arms deliveries from North Korea.
Russia stressed on numerous occasions that its armed forces have no need to buy weapons from abroad for the special military operation in Ukraine, since the country's defense industry is coping with its tasks.
We will unite the people and ‘crack’ Patriot missiles: what Putin told reporters
Russia seeks to end the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible but Kiev needs to realize that a diplomatic solution is inevitable, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters on Thursday.
He also slammed the supply of US-made Patriot missiles to Kiev as an attempt to prolong the conflict and added that Russia had lived through the year "quite steadily." TASS has collected the key remarks that Putin made.
The year’s results
Perfect situations exist only on paper but Russia made it through the year "quite steadily." The current situation does not prevent the country from implementing its plans for the future. All goals will undoubtedly be achieved.
The special military operation was a forced measure.
The Russian economy is performing better than many G-20 countries and there are no troubling indicators.
On State of the Nation Address
The president will deliver his State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly early next year: "I won’t give you any dates but we will definitely do it next year."
The rapidly changing situation, which makes it difficult to speak about specific things, is one of the reasons why there was no address this year. The key points that could have made it into the address were touched upon in other speeches.
On US role in Ukraine situation
Putin noted that Washington has long been involved in processes in post-Soviet countries and has long sought to divide the Russian World.
Russia was being "led around by the nose" in terms of resolving the situation in Ukraine since 2014 and Moscow’s opponents achieved their goal, to a certain extent, dividing the two countries' people and setting them against each other. Moscow failed there. "No one wants the Russian people to unite.... But we will try to achieve this and we will succeed."
On Patriot supplies to Kiev
The Patriot missile systems that the US has promised to provide to Ukraine are quite old systems and don’t work the way Russia’s S-300 systems do. An antidote to them will be found and "we will crack Patriot missiles, too." "It is nothing but an attempt to prolong the conflict, that’s all."
On the possible protraction of conflict
Russia does not want to escalate the conflict in Ukraine but seeks to end the war that broke out there in 2014. The sooner the conflict ends, the better. A rise in military activities will lead to unnecessary losses.
On Western and Russian defense industries
Western countries aren’t about to run out of their resources but the stockpiles of weapons left over from the Soviet era are definitely running low. It will not be easy for Ukraine to shift to NATO weapons.
Russia is using its stock of weapons but the Ukrainian military-industrial complex is "if not completely zeroed out, then rapidly moving in that direction."
Russia is capable of increasing weapons production but the authorities don’t plan to do that at the expense of other sectors of the economy.
On diplomatic solution to Ukraine issue
Moscow has never refused to hold talks with Kiev and it was the Ukrainian leadership that barred itself from negotiating. All conflicts end diplomatically and the sooner the Ukrainian authorities realize this, the better.
On meeting with ‘business captains’ There was no traditional meeting with Russia’s ‘business captains’ ahead of the holiday season due to the epidemiological situation. However, the president maintains contact with key entrepreneurs.
On response to price caps
A decree on Moscow’s response to the price cap on Russian oil will be signed "on Monday or Tuesday." The price cap itself won’t harm Russia but it paves the way for the destruction of the global economy.
The European Union’s move to cap gas prices will also lead to nothing good. If the decision affects Gazprom’s contracts, the need will arise to think about whether it is worth it to implement them.
On Nord Stream explosions The explosions that hit the Nord Stream gas pipelines were acts of state terrorism as no individuals could have done that. Those who are interested in continuing the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine are behind the terrorist attack.
On plans for New Year’s Eve
The head of state will try to celebrate the New Year with his family members.
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