The Russian government stressed Thursday that «everyone» wants the war in Ukraine to come to an end, although it warned that the delivery to Kiev of long-range weapons will lead Russia to try to «move» the threat away from its borders.
«We all want this to end, but time is not the important thing. The essential factor is important, and that is the quality of the results we will give to our people, to those who want to remain part of Russian culture,» Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Thus, he explained that the Russian troops are trying to «move the artillery of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to a distance where it does not pose a threat» to the territory of Russia, as reported by the Russian news agency TASS.
«Therefore, the more long-range weapons are delivered to the Kiev regime, the more it will be necessary to move it away from the territories that are part of our country,» he said, implicitly including in them the Ukrainian regions annexed since the beginning of the invasion.
«This escalation is like a snowball. It all started with some kind of helmets for the Ukrainian Army, then small arms appeared and now they are already talking about the possibility of sending airplanes», he denounced, while at the same time he has charged against the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
In fact, the Russian minister pointed out that Scholz, who has spoken out against sending fighter planes to Kiev, «is known for his ability to change his position quickly», while adding that Moscow does not rule out that Western countries send troops «disguised as mercenaries».
In another vein, he has stressed that Russia «will solve all issues in Ukraine by itself» and has called it a «lie» that Moscow refuses to negotiate. «Our diplomacy has to be constantly explaining what is going on, dismantling lies, especially those heard about our refusal to negotiate,» he has argued.
Lavrov has also criticized the summit to be held on February 24, coinciding with the first anniversary of the beginning of the war, to address the situation. In this sense, he said that it is an «anti-Russian coven».
Finally, he revealed that Moscow is preparing «a report» on the year of invasion, including data on alleged U.S. activities in laboratories in Ukraine, before calling on Western countries to «respect the neutrality» of developing countries that have not taken a position on the war.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
