Live | Crisis in Ukraine
Moscow says it “wants to end” the war
Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasili Nebenzia, accused the West on Monday of having created “a bubble that could burst”, while decrying its “negative” role in the context of the crisis in Ukraine.
“They incite Kiev and repeat the insane mantra that the Minsk Agreements are not fulfilled by the Russian side,” Nebenzia told the extraordinary session of the UN General Assembly. In addition, the diplomat has pointed out that the West “has flooded” Ukraine with weapons.
The Russian representative has insisted that “the real reasons” that have led to the conflict is that Ukraine has “sabotaged” and “broken” the Minsk Agreements and has pointed out that Moscow “hoped that Kiev would rethink it and comply with what they signed in 2015”.
“Ukraine did not want dialogue and did not want measures to establish a special condition for the Donbas region, as established in the agreement”, continued the representative who, although he assured that Russia “wants to end this war”, has abounded in that Moscow “cannot allow” that the citizens of the region “continue to suffer”.
Nebenzia has described as “aggressive” the actions of the Ukrainian government, “which has been armed by several states.” “There has been no empathy with the inhabitants of Donbas and, as a consequence of the threats against these people (…) a special operation was launched to protect the population”, which was “tormented”, in her words. . The diplomat has specified that the operation does not seek to “take” Ukraine, but rather to “demilitarize” it.
In this regard, he has assured that the Government of Ukraine “does not represent” all citizens, stressing that there is an “anti-Russian atmosphere” in the country, and has insisted that Russia has undertaken a “legitimate defense” operation with respect to a regime that wants nuclear weapons. “Russia is protecting itself,” she said, while recalling that Ukraine’s accession to NATO is a “red line” for Moscow that “forces” it to “respond”.
In reference to the Russian veto of the resolution condemning the invasion of Ukraine in the UN Security Council, Nebenzia explained that Russia made the decision because the other parties did not want to discuss “calmly” and assured that it is about an “anti-Russian” and “anti-Ukrainian document”.