- Russia’s foreign minister reportedly said the war in Ukraine was “destined” to halt US global dominance.
- “This hegemony is based on gross violations of international law,” Lavrov said, according to RT.
- On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday Russia’s unprovoked war with Ukraine was “destined to put an end to US-led world domination and NATO expansion,” according to a report.
“Our special military operation is designed to put an end to the shameless expansion [of NATO] and the unflinching quest for complete domination of the US and its Western subjects on the world stage,” Lavrov told state TV news channel Rossiya 24, according to a translation by Russia’s state media company RT.
In addition, Lavrov accused the United States of violating international law because of what he said was America’s attempts to enforce its own “rules-based international order,” according to the report.
“This dominance is based on gross violations of international law and some rules that they hypnotize so much now and that they invent on a case-by-case basis,” Lavrov said during the interview, RT reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, with Russian troops surrounding and shelling cities across the country.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said Monday that at least 1,842 civilians have been killed in attacks across Ukraine, although it said “the actual numbers are significantly higher”. In addition, more than 4.5 million Ukrainians fled the country during the Russian invasion, according to the UN.
When Putin announced his invasion of Ukraine, he said he wanted to “denazify” Ukraine, a country whose democratically elected leader, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is Jewish.
Putin has made other attempts to defend the war with unfounded claims that genocide against ethnic Russians was being committed in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine’s quest for NATO membership has also been cited by Putin as justification for his decision to invade Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said in March that he had “calmed down” on Ukraine’s accession to NATO.
Earlier last month, Lavrov offered another reason for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying the Kremlin was trying to prevent a separate war in Ukraine.
“The aim of Russia’s special military operation is to stop any war that could take place on or start from Ukrainian territory,” Lavrov said. according to a tweet this was posted by the Russian Embassy in London.
Since Russia invaded, Ukrainian forces have put up fierce resistance, resulting in heavy casualties for Russian troops, despite Ukrainian troops being outnumbered and outgunned by the Russians.