Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov accused on Wednesday the West of purposefully dragging out the conflict in Ukraine.
Belousov stated that Washington and its allies "prepared and provoked the Ukrainian crisis" and are now responsible for deliberately prolonging the war. Furthermore, Belousov said Western countries "in every possible way condone the interim government of Ukraine in the widespread imposition of Nazism in its most acute manifestations."
Andrey Belousov was appointed the new Russian Defense Minister in May this year, succeeding Sergey Shoygu in the post the latter had held for many years. Earlier in the day, Belousov was elected chairman of the Council of Defense Ministers of CIS countries and the decision was unanimously approved at the meeting held in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.
