Russia warns against US arms supply to Ukraine

Russia warned Tuesday that Washington's plans to supply arms to Kiev would further destabilise the situation in Ukraine.

"Russia is truly interested in solving the crisis. All other plans to increase sanctions, supply arms and so on, are aimed at destabilising the situation in Ukraine," Xinhua news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying while commenting on a statement made by US President Barack Obama.

Obama said at his joint press conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Washington Monday that if Russia continued with its current position on Ukraine, its isolation would only worsen both politically and economically and that the possibility of lethal defensive weapons was being examined.

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev echoed the remarks of Peskov by saying that the possible supply of weapons to Ukraine would result in escalation of the conflict there.

Russia would continue with its efforts for the resolution of the Ukraine crisis, Peskov said.

Meanwhile, the spokesman revealed that preparations for the Normandy Format meeting planned for Wednesday in the Belarusian capital of Minsk among leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine were still underway. He declined to give further details.