Russia: West claims on Ukraine invasion is a "cover for large-scale provocations"
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Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman notes the West's anti-Russia campaign, deciphers it as a cover-up for US and allies' military operations.
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Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Western statements about Russia's preparations for an alleged attack on Ukraine are a media “cover for staging large-scale provocations of their own, including those of military character.”
She said, “They may have extremely tragic consequences for the regional and global security," explaining that Western and Ukrainian media, as well as officials, have ramped up efforts in making speculations about the alleged coming Russian 'invasion' of Ukraine.
Zakharova spoke at a news briefing on Thursday, pointing out that the West's media intimidation is aimed to incite provocations, including ones of military nature, which may have tragic consequences on regional and global security.
Read more: Moscow calls on US to halt weapons supply to Ukraine.
Furthermore, the Russian spokeswoman pointed to the UK's recent delivery of weapons to Ukraine sent by British military transport planes as a "carte blanche for a military operation in Donbas."
Zakharova noted that her country calls on Western countries to stop the anti-Russian campaign on the situation in Ukraine, by stopping all contributions to the militarization of the Ukrainian crisis and dragging it into NATO and instead directing their efforts to encourage Kyiv to comply with the Minsk agreements and obligations.
Read more: CIA manages training program for Ukrainian paramilitaries: reports
Russia condemns NATO's space policy paper
Zakharova pointed out that the NATO space policy document is another attempt to legitimize the use of force in space.
"The document is one-sided and in fact incendiary as it is based on destructive beliefs of the US-led NATO members who have an important role in space," Zakharova emphasized.
By releasing the document, she added, NATO sought to legitimize the use of force in outer space, which ran counter to the international community’s efforts to prevent an arms race in space. "That said, the alliance is turning outer space into a battlefield," Zakharova said.
The foreign ministry spokeswoman pointed to a document, published on January 17, titled NATO's overarching Space Policy, which is related to task priorities and areas of work for NATO in outer space.
Lavrov slams NATO for attempting to "artificially drag new members"
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov blamed NATO for attempting to artificially drag new members, including Ukraine, stressing that Russia is ready for any scenario.
Read more: Finland does not plan to join NATO, but supports it against Russia: PM
Lavrov warned that “NATO is trying to dictate its will to everyone," adding that “We know and are able to safeguard our security in any case, and I can assure you that we are not going to endlessly wait for some changes and promises."
"If our proposals are rejected, if this happens, we will, of course, assess the situation and report to the president... We will make decisions taking into account all factors, primarily in the interests of reliable ensuring our security," the top Russian diplomat stressed.
He went on to say that "Russia does not understand yet how the European Union sees its possible participation in negotiations on security guarantees.”
