Russia’s foreign minister complains of state news closure pressured by ABC for disinformation
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has made it clear that his government is dissatisfied with the closure of state-run news outlets around the world amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. During a panel interview with ABC’s George Stefanopoulos on Thursday, Lavrov was pressured into misinformation spread by Russia about the causes of the invasion and said the world had not been told the full story of the military operation due to a lack of Russian media presence.
NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has made it clear that his government is dissatisfied with the closure of state-run news outlets around the world amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
During a panel interview with ABC’s George Stefanopoulos on Thursday, Lavrov was pressured into misinformation spread by Russia about the causes of the invasion and said the world had not been told the full story of the military operation due to a lack of Russian media presence.
“I can’t comment [on] assumptions, and now there are many, “Lavrov said after Stefanopoulos asked how he could defend the” lies “about the cause of Russia’s invasion.
“But do you know, if you pay attention to the fact that Europe in particular and the United States are trying to shut down all publications, media and sources of information broadcast by Russia, from Russia, about how the special military operation is advancing and advancing and how the Ukrainian army and neo-Nazi battalions are behaving towards peaceful civilians, “he added.
ABC’s George Stefanopoulos and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (Getty Images / Reuters)
RUSSIA INVASES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES
Russian state media have called for the Russian government’s justification for the invasion since its launch last week, hailing the operation as “historic” and claiming that Ukraine is the real aggressor in the war between the two nations. He also reiterated allegations that the Ukrainian government was made up of neo-Nazis who committed genocide against Russians in Ukraine’s eastern separatist regions.
DirecTV announced earlier this week that it would remove Kremlin-backed RT America from the background amid the war, joining other companies and Western countries in taking action against Russian-backed media.
Lavrov continued to claim that the Ukrainian army was robbing and robbing people in the villages of Donbass, one of the separatist regions, and that they had stolen vehicles and property from Ukrainians living there.
“They are behaving like robbers and looters. And, you know, there is a lot of information about future provocations that are taking place in Mariupol and other areas where Ukrainians are now trying to use civilians as human shields,” he said. “Talk to Indians, Arabs and Africans who are trying to flee Ukraine now. They are not allowed to.”
View of the central square after the shelling of the town hall in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022 (AP Photo / Pavel Dorogoy) (AP Photo / Pavel Dorogoy)
RUSSIAN STATE MEDIA TERMINATES “DENASIFICATION” RELICS JUSTIFYING TO BE IN UKRAINE, I DENY RUSSIA IS AN AGGRESSOR
It was not immediately clear what Lavrov meant, but he said there were videos depicting foreigners trying to flee Ukraine to Russia but not being allowed to leave by Ukrainian authorities.
“I do not have enough time to list all the facts now. Please visit our website, the website of our ministry. And you will be able to get a detailed transcription of what the Kiev neo-Nazi regime is doing now. You like the word “killer.” “You know, the real killers are on the side of the regime in Kyiv,” he said, referring to President Biden, who had previously called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “killer.”
Stefanopoulos pressured Lavrov over his neo-Nazi allegations, noting that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is Jewish and has family members killed in the Holocaust.
Lavrov reiterated his claim, saying that Zelensky and other “neo-Nazis” had been able to manipulate the Ukrainian people. He then claimed to have marched in “torchlight processions” and trained in “acts of sabotage and war”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attended a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in the Kremlin in Moscow on February 14, 2022 (Photo by Alexei NIKOLSKY / Sputnik / AFP) (Photo by ALEXEI NIKOLSKY / Sputnik / AFP via Getty Images) (Photo) of ALEXEY NIKOLSKY / Sputnik / AFP via Getty Images))
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
Lavrov further cited laws he said supported the ban on Russian in schools and businesses, and again urged people to “spend half an hour” on the websites of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Ministry of Defense for more information.
He later quoted a French journalist named Anne-Lorne Bonell, who reported alleged bombings, shelling and killings of civilians by the Ukrainian military in Russia’s separatist regions, but said she had been prevented from broadcasting her report by the French government. Fox News was unable to immediately confirm this claim.
David Rutz of Fox News contributed to this report.