Lavrov: West denies ongoing genocide in Donbass
The Russian foreign minister criticizes the West for turning a blind eye on Ukraine's shelling and ongoing murder of civilians in Donbass, and contends Zelensky is lying about wanting negotiations.
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Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, criticized the West for turning a blind eye on Ukraine's war crimes against civilians in eastern Ukraine, and for defending Ukraine incessantly.
Lavrov stressed that Western nations protected Kiev from scrutiny even when it decided to take Donbass by force, threatened to acquire nuclear weapons, and join NATO, breaking the Minsk Agreements.
"They have been turning a blind eye to war crimes against the civilian population, to the murders of women, children, the elderly, to the destruction of civilian infrastructure and silently encouraging the rapid emergence of neo-Nazism and Russophobia [in Ukraine], which ultimately plunged the country into its current tragic state", Lavrov said.
The West, according to Lavrov, unanimously denies the ongoing genocide that was taking place in Ukraine, as Kiev's military forces have been engaging in the constant killing of residents in Donetsk and Lugansk over the years.
With popular vote, the two regions in Donbass have become independent republics, as declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Lavrov, furthermore, announced that Russia will be holding a special photo gallery at the UN for the UNHRC to see, exposing the suffering of the residents at the hands of the Ukrainian government in Donbass.
On DPR and LPR
Concerning the two new republics, Lavrov said that Moscow could not remain indifferent to the two republics' appeals for defense against Ukraine, noting that the special operation, announced yesterday, is to allow Ukrainians to choose their future upon liberation from the oppression of the current regime.
He reiterated that Russian forces are not attacking civilians, but rather military infrastructure, as it is Moscow's main objective in the operation.
While Lavrov said that there will not be a Russian invasion in Ukraine, he said Western politicians could not seriously think that Moscow would tolerate the oppression of Russians in Ukraine.
He said it is in Russia's interest that Ukraine maintains its independence.
Zelensky... lying?
The foreign minister, in addition, said that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was lying when he said that Kiev is ready to discuss Ukraine's "neutral status."
Zelensky, according to the Russian minister, also lied when he said that Russia refused to engage in dialogue, and that Zelensky himself neglected opportunities to start negotiations on security guarantees.
"We have always stood for negotiations. The chance [to hold them] remained until the last moment", Lavrov said.
However, Ukraine will return to the stage of negotiations after the Russian operation is completed, according to Lavrov.
The Russian foreign minister criticized NATO for pretending to care about Ukrainian peoples' desires, noting that if they really did, then NATO should've done that in 2008 when they said Ukraine would eventually join the alliance.
