MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) - The Federation Council hopes that United States President Barack Obama will not support the House of Representatives' resolution urging the delivery of lethal weapons to Ukraine.
This resolution "is advisory, not mandatory," Federation Council Defense and Security Committee Chairman Viktor Ozerov said. "This is an advisory resolution. Nevertheless, we are expecting President Barack Obama not to follow the hawks' lead and to deny support to this decision because it will escalate the Ukraine conflict and cause further deaths amongst the civilian population," Ozerov told Interfax.
Obviously, the delivery of weapons cannot help meet the Minsk accord, he said. "The Minsk agreements will be ruined in this case, as the administration of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics will see it as the beginning of a new escalation with relevant consequences," Ozerov observed.
The Ukrainian army will step up its operations and launch a new offensive on the militia positions if the lethal armaments are actually sent, he said.
"The fact that the resolution refers to the need to stop the Russian aggression against Ukraine as its reason is especially puzzling," he noted.
Russia keeps saying on every international platform, including the UN Security Council, that it is not a party of this conflict. "This is an internal conflict of Ukraine. The only thing that Russia has been doing is promoting the fulfillment of all commitments by the conflicting sides. As to the legal status of Russia in this conflict, it is absolutely the same as the status of Germany and France, which have also put their signatures under the Minsk agreements," Ozerov emphasized.