Over the course of 113 days, human lives were lost, Ukrainians lost their homes, cities were destroyed, families in Ukraine were divided.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made few statements to the Western media, insisting that they carry out a necessary military operation to discredit the neighboring country.
But on Thursday, June 16, Lavrov came face to face BBC journalist Steve Rosenberg.
– We did not invade Ukraine, as the channel claims.
The foreign minister insists that they declared a special military operation in Ukraine because they had no other way to explain to the West that dragging Ukraine into NATO was a criminal act.
They promised Putin one thing
– We’re not shy
On June 16, it became known that leaders from France, Italy, Germany and Romania were visiting the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
Then French President Emmanuel Macron stated that there were signs of war crimes. The same week, UN investigators also reported that war crimes may have been committed in Ukraine.
Lavrov, for his part, insists that the military operation was necessary to destroy Ukraine.
During the interview, Rosenberg confronted BBC correspondent Lavrov with reports that 360 residents, including 74 children, had been inside a school’s basement for 28 days without access to toilets and water. Ten people will eventually die.
– Are you to fight the Nazis? Rosenberg asked Lavrov.
– Lavrov replied that it was very unfortunate, before going on to claim that international diplomats such as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Secretary-General, etc., are under pressure from the West.
He claimed that they were often pressured to pass on false information from the West.
Russia is not perfect. The foreign minister added that Russia is what it is, but we are not shy about showing our identity.
Moreover, in the interview, he also accused the BBC of not telling the truth about what has been happening in the separatist regions of eastern Ukraine for the past eight years.
The full interview will be published with the BBC on Saturday 18 June.
– Stop supplying Kyiv
From the start of the war on a cold February morning, the West condemned the Russian invasion. NATO and the European Union sent weapons to Ukraine’s defense and imposed a series of sanctions on President Putin, Lavrov, their families, and a number of powerful oligarchs.
Nor was Russia generous in its statements and sanctions in response to the West’s reaction.
Among other things, the United Kingdom was put on Russia’s list of “unfriendly countries”.
– If the United States and NATO are really interested in resolving the Ukraine crisis, they should, first of all, stop supplying the regime in Kyiv with weapons and ammunitionLavrov previously said in an interview with the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
On June 16-17, NATO will hold a meeting with the Alliance’s Defense Ministers. On the agenda is how they will continue to support Ukraine in accessing the Ukraine package that includes, among other things, assistance in replacing obsolete military equipment.
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