MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy on Tuesday and delivered with a demarche in connection with the growing involvement of Washington in the situation in Ukraine, the ministry said in a statement.
"A demarche was delivered to the head of the U.S. embassy, summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on February 21, in connection with the growing involvement of the United States in the hostilities on the side of the Kiev regime," the statement, published on the ministry's website, said.
"The note of protest, presented to the ambassador, underlined that the supply of weapons and target coordinates to the Ukrainian Armed Forces for strikes on Russian military and civilian infrastructure vividly demonstrates the inconsistency and falsity of the statements of the American side that the United States is not a party to the conflict," the ministry said.
"It was also noted that weapons supplied to Kiev and the secondary personnel, including U.S. citizens, constitute a legitimate target," it said.
"In that connection, the ambassador was told that the current U.S. aggressive course towards deeper confrontation with Russia in all areas was counterproductive," the ministry said.
"It was emphasized that, in order to deescalate the tensions, Washington must take steps that envisage the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops and hardware and the end of the hostile anti-Russian activity," it said.
At the same time, "the Russian side also underlined that the United States should give explanations of the explosions at the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines and abstain from hindering an objective investigation and identification of the culprits," the ministry said.
"A number of bilateral matters were also addressed at the meeting," it said.