National Interest: NATO countries are escalating the confrontation between Kiev and Moscow 
NATO is deliberately escalating the confrontation between Kiev and Moscow by supplying weapons to Ukraine. Ted Galen Carpenter, Senior Fellow for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, writes about this in the National Interest.
He called the Western countries and a number of eastern states, including Turkey, “warmongers” between Russia and Ukraine and stressed that they are shifting responsibility for their actions to the Kremlin.
Carpenter drew attention to Ukrainian rhetoric and noted that Kiev's attacks are the merit of promises from the Western partners. “Belief in military support from the United States or NATO can force the Ukrainian leadership to abandon prudence and start an unfortunate confrontation,” the expert explained.
As an example, the scientist cited Washington's relationship with its other partner in the North Atlantic Alliance – Tbilisi. “The United States has once made its overly impatient client think that it enjoys the backing of Washington. The result was an unnecessary war, in which the humiliated “client” was left bruised, “Carpenter added.
In his opinion, the United States should refuse to support Ukraine with arms, since its transformation into a military ally of the West violates the outlined Russia is “red lines” and encourages the Ukrainian leadership to provocations in foreign policy.
“The United States, Turkey and other supporters of Kiev need to change course before they turn the smoldering Ukrainian conflict into a fire,” the expert concluded.
Earlier, a freelance adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, press secretary of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbass, Oleksiy Arestovich, said that Kiev, together with foreign partners, had developed plans for defense against Russia in the event of a full-scale military conflict. According to him, the strategy also includes a counter-offensive in separate directions.