On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an exclusive interview for the Soloviev Live YouTube channel that the West is considering staging a "small war" in Ukraine and blaming it on Moscow to impose sanctions and weaken Russia's competitive advantages.

Russia’s senior diplomat said that he does not rule out the possibility that there is a desire to fuel militaristic tendencies in Ukraine to "stage a ‘small war' and then accuse us and impose new sanctions to suppress our competitive advantages." 

According to Lavrov, the US and NATO countries are "pumping" Ukraine with arms, while boasting about their delivered military supplies since 2014 "with ammunition, weapons, and offensive systems worth $2.5 billion."

Lavrov revealed that in October and November, there were reports of arms deliveries worth nearly a hundred million dollars, including Javelin systems, anti-tank systems, and ammunition.

Russian Military: Provocations by NATO near Russia's borders could lead to armed conflict

In a different context, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said today that NATO's deliberate provocations near Russia's borders have a high probability of escalating into an armed war.

"Recently, the alliance has switched to the practice of direct provocations, associated with a high risk of escalating into an armed confrontation," Fomin said during a briefing for military attachés and staff of foreign embassies accredited in Moscow.

He also emphasized that, following the US withdrawal from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Short-Range Missiles, NATO ignored Russian President Vladimir Putin's initiative to impose a moratorium on the deployment of new intermediate and shorter-range missiles in Europe, as well as the possibility of developing mutual verification measures to address existing concerns.