Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that the US and UK want to escalate the Russia-Ukraine conflict into a larger confrontation between Moscow and members of the European Union.

“Our US and British colleagues… with the support from the Germans, Poles, and the Baltic states, very much want to make this war a real war, pitting Russia against European countries,” Lavrov said in an interview with RT and Sputnik.

The Western governments are “literally holding Ukraine back from any constructive steps” towards a peace settlement, the top Russian diplomat argued.

They (US and UK) are not only “flooding” the country with weapons, but “forcing” Ukraine to use them more brazenly, he told RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan.

Russia launched its military operation in the neighboring country in late February. Many countries, including NATO members, imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow and have been supplying Kiev with heavy weapons. The latest deliveries include US-made M142 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and M777 howitzers.

Lavrov accused that the US and Britain of “benefiting” from the conflict between Russia and the EU because the economies of the bloc’s members are bearing the brunt of the sanctions. He added that the US has been acting “irresponsibly” by stoking tensions with Russia.

Source: RT