Lavrov: Kiev is taking orders from Washington
5 Min Read
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov weighs in on the current events in Ukraine.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks to the media during a press conference in Moscow, Russia (AP)
In a conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed assurance that there will be a solution to the Ukrainian crisis, noting that Russia's demands are "minimal", asserting that Russia cannot allow Ukraine to threaten Russia's security.
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will be taking place today, Thursday, as Lavrov said, adding that Russia is ready to negotiate security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe. He further said that Russia will lay out its position in the upcoming round of negotiations, noting that Kiev is taking orders from Washington, failing to act independently.
"Again, the Ukrainian team found some pretext to postpone these negotiations. Surely they are receiving instructions from Washington, there is no doubt about it. This country is absolutely not independent", Lavrov said.
The West, according to Lavrov, Ukraine's security based on the balance of interests with its neighbor, Russia, is not the West's priority - however, the West's interest is to "demonize" Moscow.
Lavrov furthermore expressed certainty that plans to wage war against Russia are being prepared, and that World War III will be a nuclear confrontation.
"But the talk about nuclear war is now underway. I ask you to look very carefully at the statements that were made and at the characters who made these statements. First, Mr Stoltenberg [...] After that, Mr Zelensky began to declare that he would renounce the status of a non-nuclear state. Note the fact that a nuclear war is being constantly waged in the heads of Western politicians, and not in the heads of Russians", Lavrov added.
Read more: Lavrov on Nuclear War: Better ask Biden
In parallel, Moscow has recently conducted nuclear and ballistic missile exercises.
Russian nuclear submarines set out Tuesday for drills in the Barents Sea, as mobile missile launchers roamed the snowy forests of Siberia after President Vladimir Putin ordered his Defense Ministry to put the country's deterrence forces on high alert in light of the rising tensions in Ukraine.
The Russian Northern Fleet confirmed that several nuclear submarines participated in maneuvers aimed to train the forces during stormy weather conditions. The fleet added that several warships tasked with protecting the Kola Peninsula in northwestern Russia will join the exercises.
Hysteria
The hysteria around Ukraine will pass, according to Lavrov, and that Russian-Ukraine dialogue will be relaunched, and Moscow is ready for it.
The world "hears Russia but it's hard to say if it is listening," he said. He believes that most entities understand what he means, but are "forced to abide by harsh dictates."
"I assure you that those countries that banned their companies from working in Russia did so under enormous pressure. They are now saying: we must suffer just to 'teach Russia a lesson'", Lavrov said.
Europe took drastic measures to stop doing business with Severstal, Gazprom, the Russian Central Bank, in addition to consideration to isolate Russia from the SWIFT system.
Assessing Russia's military operation will be "premature" to do so, according to Lavrov, since the operation is still in effect, and the goals have not changed.
The goals are still the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, and to ensure that Ukraine stays out of NATO to maintain Russian security.
Answering a question about Russia's denazification in the country 'despite that Zelensky is Jewish,' Lavrov saif that neo-Nazism is thriving in Ukraine and that it affects both the Russian and the Jewish population, as the neo-Nazis even engage in physical violence.
Read more: Zelensky's rallying cry for Jews: His last shot in a losing war
Lavrov narrated that "true murderers" are fighting for Kiev, pointing at Ukrainian neo-Nazi battalions, namely the Azov battalion who has recently been seen greasing bullets with pig fat to shoot Chechens.
The foreign minister, furthermore, warned about the coming provocations that the battalions are planning in Mariupol.
Read more: Zelensky: 16,000 foreign mercenaries are going to fight for Ukraine
"There is a lot of information about what kind of provocations are being prepared, including in Mariupol and other territories where Ukrainians are now trying to use citizens as human shields. Europe and the US are trying in every possible way […] to close any media, any sources, channels of information from Russia about what is happening in Ukraine, how the special military operation is developing and how the Ukrainian Army, especially the Ukrainian neo-Nazi battalions, are behaving towards civilians", Lavrov said.
