Moscow - Saba:
Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin announced on Saturday that missile production plans in Ukraine are increasingly pushing Germany toward conflict with Russia.
Sputnik News Agency quoted Volodin as saying in a letter addressed to Bundestag President Julia Klöckner and leaders of political parties in the German parliament: "We know that the German government is planning to start missile production in Ukraine, and in doing so, it is increasingly dragging Germany into military action against Russia. You understand what this could lead to."
The Russian State Duma Speaker asserted that the ruling elite in Germany is currently creating the preconditions for escalating the situation, provoking clashes between the two countries.
He added: "The question is, do the German people want this or not? We don't want it, but if it happens, we are ready."
The German Defense Ministry announced at the end of May, following a meeting between German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and his Ukrainian counterpart, Rustam Umerov, that Germany and Ukraine had signed an agreement to finance the production of long-range weapons within Ukraine.
It was also announced that approximately €5 billion ($5.7 billion) in military aid would be allocated to Kyiv, including the provision of air defense systems and ammunition. No precise details were disclosed regarding the type of systems or the value of the contracts.
Russia had previously sent a memorandum to NATO countries regarding the flow of Western weapons to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that any shipment containing weapons to Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russian forces.
Lavrov previously indicated that the United States and NATO were directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, "not only by sending weapons, but also by training military personnel in Britain, Germany, Italy, and other countries."
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously asserted that the West's supply of weapons to Ukraine contradicts a settlement, does not contribute to negotiations, and will even have a negative impact.
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