By Aaron Kesel

Under the disguise of Christmas, U.S. President Donald Trump sneakingly gifted Ukraine with American lethal defensive weaponry; Russia has responded warning the United States that a red line has been crossed.

The deepstate (military industrial complex) elite’s spokesman, Senator John McCain of the Armed Services Committee, and neocons once again are trying to inflame a war by convincing U.S. President Donald Trump to send weapons to Ukraine. It undoubtedly will be seen as an “aggressive” move against Moscow, as intended.

“The reported decision to authorize the sale of sniper rifles and ammunition must only be a first step,” McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. “I urge the president to authorize additional sales of defensive lethal weapons, including anti-tank munitions, and to fully utilize security assistance funds provided by the Congress to enable Ukraine to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

[RELATED: McCain Says “We Must Fight Crackpot Conspiracy Theories” Despite Promoting The Biggest One: A New World Order]

The Eastern European country has been reliant on support from Washington since pro-Western government forces overthrew the Ukrainian leadership in 2013, as warned by Ukraine Deputy Oleg Tsarov prior. Paid CIA snipers hired by Maidan leaders subsequently shot at protesters and police, according to Polish former presidential candidate Janusz Korwin-Mikke and Urmas Paet.

A leaked phone call further confirmed the assumption that the U.S. planned a coup in Ukraine.

The audio uploaded online showed Victoria Nuland, the then top U.S. diplomat in Europe, and Geoff Pyatt, the U.S. envoy to Kiev, discussing the merits of Ukraine’s various opposition figures and if things were in place. In the recording, Nuland can also be heard saying “f**k the EU,” if they aren’t ready for their alleged plot and to go ahead without them.

Estonian Foreign Minister and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Urmas Paet, c0llaborated and confirmed that snipers had shot at both police and protesters in a conversation with EU foreign Security Policy Catherine Ashton when an additional tape was leaked by Officers of Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) loyal to the ousted President Viktor Yanukovich. Paet said that snipers who shot at protesters and police in Kiev were hired by Maidan leaders.

In fact, Nuland even admitted the subversive actions the U.S. was taking in Ukraine for the past few decades during a public speech where she stated the “U.S. has spent five billion dollars ($5,000,000,000) to subvert Ukraine,” assuring her listeners that there are prominent businessmen and government officials who support the U.S. project to tear Ukraine away from its historic relationship with Russia and into the U.S. sphere of interest (via “Europe”).

The U.S. would never admit publicly that it was involved in Ukraine. Under former President Barack Obama the policy was to not send weapons to Ukraine with the exception of allowing some private contractors to send small arms; Trump is changing that, signaling a major shift in U.S. policy.

Instead, the Obama administration opted to covertly send the Russians (a supposed “enemy” of the U.S. at the time) Uranium through the Uranium One deal and later sanctioned Moscow after annexing Crimea. The uranium sold could have been used to make bombs to use in Ukraine.

That deal is now under scrutiny by the Trump administration Justice Department amid deciding to approve a commercial license authorizing the sale of $41.5 million of weaponry including Model M107A1 Sniper Systems, ammunition, and associated accessories to Ukraine, the Washington Post reported.

According to a Trump state department spokesperson, Heather Nauert, the decision was “part of our effort to help Ukraine build its long-term defense capacity, to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to deter further aggression.”

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov responded stating the U.S. decision will only make the conflict more deadly and suggested that Russia could be forced to retaliate He also said the U.S. can no longer cast itself as a mediator.

“It’s not a mediator. It’s an accomplice in fueling the war,” Ryabkov said in a statement.

Thanking the U.S. for its support, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko addressed the concerns over how the weapons would be used.

“American weapons in the hands of Ukrainian soldiers are not for an offensive, but for a decisive rebuff of the aggressor, the protection of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, as well as for effective self-defense,” he wrote on Facebook. “It is also a trans-Atlantic vaccination against the Russian virus of aggression.”

The Washington Post added that the timing of approving this deal and another sale in Canada is no mere coincidence.

“We have crossed the Rubicon, this is lethal weapons and I predict more will be coming,” said one senior congressional official. It’s likely no mere coincidence that Canada also approved lethal defense sales to Ukraine this week, which would happen only if the Canadian government knew the United States was on board, the official said.

Activist Post reported in late August that the Trump administration was considering sending weapons to Ukraine after Kiev reported 3,000 Russian troops in the country in what we said would be “the words heard around the world and the move that starts WW3.”

U.S Secretary of Defense James Mattis stated the U.S.’s position that Russia has not abided by the Minsk ceasefire agreement meant to end separatist violence in eastern Ukraine.

“Despite Russia’s denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force, undermining the sovereign and free nations of Europe,” Mattis told reporters.

Trump has previously accused Russia of taking Crimea by force in a series of tweets and his White House stated that the U.S. president expected the annexed Black Sea peninsula to be returned to Ukraine, Reuters reported.

Crimea was TAKEN by Russia during the Obama Administration. Was Obama too soft on Russia? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017

Russia responded at the time, stating it would not hand back Crimea to Ukraine or discuss the matter with foreign partners.

“We don’t give back our own territory. Crimea is territory belonging to the Russian Federation,” Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Trump’s statements contradicts comments he made in an interview with ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos last year when he said: “The people of Crimea, from what I’ve heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were.”

Under the law, the State Department must notify Congress of planned foreign military sales, which is then proceeded by a review in which lawmakers can act to stop the sale. It was unclear whether the administration had formally notified Congress, but lawmakers are unlikely to try to block the deal given that Democrats and Republicans alike have both called on the government to send weapons to Ukraine.

It’s also important to note that “heavier” equipment requested by Ukraine, the Javelin antitank missile system, has still not been approved.

Although, as a recent interview with a Texas company AirTronic corroborates, the antitank missiles have long been sold to Ukraine for over a year now, VOA News reported.

“We started delivering our product to Ukraine last year and we are continuing deliveries up until now,” Richard Vandiver, Chief Operating Officer at AirTronic, said to VOA’s Ukrainian service.

As U.S. Senator Rand Paul said on Twitter and on the floor of Congress in regards to a controversial law, “They want to rubber stamp. They want no debates, and they want to send your kids to war.” Where is the vote for sending weapons to Ukraine beating on those war drums?

Nobody wanted to have this debate. They want to rubber stamp. They want no debates and they want to send your kids to war pic.twitter.com/BcBc8AcftP — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 27, 2017

Sending lethal weapons to Ukraine is a reckless move and creates a situation where American arms could kill Russian soldiers, a predicament that could thrust the two nuclear-armed nations into a deep war.

Aaron Kesel writes for Activist Post. Support us at Patreon. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Steemit, and BitChute. Ready for solutions? Subscribe to our premium newsletter Counter Markets.

Image Credit: The Anti-Media