With their support for Ukraine, the Western powers have entered into a direct war against Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday (September 23, 2023). According to the politician, proof of this is the billions in weapons that the West has provided to Kiev to defend against Russian aggression, as well as the support of the American and British secret services.
“You can call it whatever you want, but they are fighting us, they are fighting us directly, we call it a hybrid war, but that doesn’t change anything,” Lavrov said at a news conference after his speech at the United Nations General Assembly podium. United. The West is “de facto fighting against us with the hands and corpses of Ukrainians,” he added.
The head of Russian diplomacy, who arrived in New York on Tuesday, avoided crossing paths with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who addressed the UN General Assembly the same day. “I saw it on TV. “It looked pretty bleak,” Lavrov said. “But I have to mind my own business. We all knew what I was going to say, so why waste time,” he said wryly.
“Exhaustion of Russia”
Zelensky has pushed a 10-point plan to end the war that includes a full Russian withdrawal from Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, which Moscow illegally occupied in 2014, as well as the creation of a special surrender court. Lavrov mocked this plan and criticized the United States and the European Union for their support.
“It is not realistic and everyone understands it, but at the same time they say that it is the only basis for negotiations,” he started. Regarding the end of the conflict: “If you say it is on the battlefield in these circumstances, it will be on the battlefield,” he warned.
Then he seemed conciliatory. (Russian leader Vladimir) “Putin has said clearly that we are ready to negotiate. But we will not consider a proposal for a ceasefire because we have already done it once and were deceived,” he said. The minister recalled that there had already been meetings between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in April last year and accused Kiev of betting on an expansion of the military conflict in order to “exhaust” Russia, a country with a larger population and a lot more territory and resources Ukraine. .
DZC (EFE, AFP)