(MENAFN) Russia has strongly criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's proposal to US President-elect Donald Trump that frozen Russian assets could be used to purchase American weapons. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova labeled Zelensky’s offer as evidence of “deep-rooted corrupt ties” between the Ukrainian leader and the West.

In a recent interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, Zelensky explained that the $300 billion in Russian central bank funds frozen by the US and EU after Russia's invasion of Ukraine could be used to help Ukraine buy weapons from the US. Zelensky believed this arrangement would benefit both the US military industry and Ukraine, with the funds serving as a security guarantee in potential peace talks.

Zakharova responded on Telegram, accusing Zelensky of offering "other people's money in exchange for weapons," and suggested this revealed the corrupt nature of his connections with Western powers. She also criticized Zelensky's broader interview, calling it a "mixture of neo-Nazism and terrorism" and claiming that he was "completely out of his mind." Zakharova tied Zelensky’s actions to broader corruption claims, referencing past allegations related to Burisma, a Ukrainian firm associated with Hunter Biden.

Exiled Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk also echoed the claims of corruption, suggesting that the ongoing conflict is rooted in a large corrupt scheme involving Western politicians.

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