Reacting to reports that the United States plans to send long-range rocket systems to Ukraine, a senior Russian diplomat on Saturday called for “an end to the senseless and extremely risky pumping of weapons into the country.”

On Friday, news outlets reported that the Biden administration is expected to send multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to the Eastern European nation. Ukrainian officials have demanded the weapons to attack the Russians from a longer distance and are threatening Russian logistics centers and roads to slow down their offensive in the Donbass region.

In a message on Telegram on Saturday, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said the Biden administration “could give Kyiv HIMARS MLRS and M270 MLRS, which will be equipped with M31 GMLRS guided missiles.”

“There is a risk that such equipment will be placed near the borders of Russia and that Ukrainians may strike Russian cities. Such a situation is unacceptable and intolerable for us,” he said, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

In an interview this week, Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said Newsweek that Russia “now uses artillery intensively and ruthlessly.”

“To counter this, to save the lives of our military and civilians, we need the MLRS,” he added.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the Biden administration is expected to announce its decision to send the weapons to Ukraine next week. Asked if a decision on rocket systems had been made, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Friday that officials were “still working out what the next withdrawal plan would look like.”

In response to a request for comment on Saturday, the US Department of Defense referred Newsweek at comments made by Kirby at Friday’s press conference.

Asked about the MLRS weapons by a reporter, Kirby said: “Certainly we are aware and aware of the Ukrainian demands, privately and publicly, for what is called a multiple launch rocket system.”

“I won’t make the decisions in advance. I’ve never done this since we started doing these withdrawal authorization packets, but I can assure you that we are in constant communication with them, and we are always determined to help them succeed on the battlefield and to succeed specifically in the fight they find themselves in,” he added.

Antonov said on Saturday that Russia hopes “that common sense will prevail and that Washington will not take such a provocative step.”

“We call for an end to the senseless and extremely risky pumping of weapons into the country. It is important to refrain from threats against us and claims of a military victory for Ukraine,” the Ambassador said. according Ukrayinksa Pravda.

Meanwhile, a Kremlin propaganda TV presenter recently warned that the United States would face a “sharp response” if it supplied Ukraine with the long-range rocket systems.