 Zakharova, West was plunging even deeper into the conflict. Statements by Western countries about the need to supply Kiev with any weapons, including those capable of hitting targets in Crimea, are raising the stakes in the conflict and will inevitably lead to an escalation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a commentary. In particular, she drew attention to the New York Times report, which claimed that the US administration was considering options for supplying Kiev with additional weapons to attack Crimea. In addition, Zakharova recalled that the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen had urged partners to give Kiev any weapons it can use. We regard all this as an open, provocative instigation by the West and the raising of the stakes in the conflict, which will inevitably lead to greater casualties and a dangerous escalation, Zakharova said. She stated that the West was plunging even deeper into the conflict in Ukraine. Supplies of Western air defense systems and tanks to Kiev are being discussed at the US base in Rammstein. Germany and Western countries are also training Ukrainian military personnel. The commentary stresses that Kiev is using the tragedy, Nipropetrovsk, to obtain more armed supplies from the West. A freelance advisor to the office of the President of Ukraine Alexei Arestovich initially admitted that the Ukrainian air defense's actions were the cause of the tragedy, but then he began to backtrack, Zakharova pointed out. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's regime is shamelessly trying to use this tragedy to press the West for tougher anti-Russian sanctions and new arms shipments.