Russia defiant over new US aid to Ukraine
By Steve Rosenberg
A good rule of thumb since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been that what is good for Kyiv, is bad for Moscow.
Last Saturday brought good news for the Ukrainian government. The US House of Representatives voted in favour of a $61bn (£49bn) aid package for Kyiv, which will be used to arm its military.
The House also approved a bill that will allow the seizure and transfer to Ukraine of Russian assets frozen in America. The bills now move to the Senate for approval.
Unsurprisingly, this did not go down well in Moscow.
Hawkish former President Dmitry Medvedev condemned the “61 billion bloody dollars”. He called for a new American Civil War that “would finally lead to the inglorious break up of the 21st Century’s evil empire, the United States of America”.
On his flagship Sunday night state TV talk show, presenter Vladimir Solovyov described the idea of transferring Russian assets to Ukraine as “an act of financial terrorism”.
“If they go through with this,” Mr Solovyov said, “then on the level of the State Duma and the government, we must declare America a financial terrorist.”
He added that he now believes war between Russia and Nato is “inevitable”.
