Aha Dua Permata: Lavrov says US engineered crisis in Ukraine

Thursday, 21 September 2023

Lavrov says US engineered crisis in Ukraine

©Valery Sharifulin/TASS

The US and its allies have openly meddled in Ukrainian affairs since the Soviet breakup and there’s evidence they engineered the crisis in that country, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said at a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine.

"Since the collapse of the USSR and the emergence of independent states in its place, the US and its allies have blatantly and openly interfered in Ukraine's internal affairs. As US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland publicly, and even proudly, admitted at the end of 2013, Washington spent $5 billion to nurture politicians in Kiev who are amenable to the West. All the facts of how the Ukrainian crisis has been engineered have long been public, but attempts are being made to downplay them by all means, to undo the entire history leading up to 2014," the minister said.

Risk of Global Conflict Increasing - Lavrov at UN Security Council Meeting

The risk of a global conflict is on the rise, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Ukraine.

"The risks of global conflict are also growing," Lavrov stated. It is precisely to address such risks, Russia insists that all provisions of the UN Charter be respected and not applied selectively, including the sovereign equality of states, non-interference in their internal affairs, respect for territorial integrity, and the right of people to self-determination, the minister added.

Russia Not Abandoning Negotiations With Ukraine - Lavrov

Russia is not abandoning negotiations with Ukraine, if the US wanted to, it could command Kiev to cancel the decree banning negotiations with Moscow, the minister stressed.

"Speaking of negotiations - we are not abandoning them even now, President Putin has spoken about this many times, including quite recently," Lavrov emphasized.

Addressing the statement of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who said that Kiev had offered a plan for peace and Moscow had offered nothing, Lavrov noted that Volodymyr Zelensky had signed a decree forbidding negotiations. "If the US is so interested in them, I think it will not be difficult to order that this decree of Zelensky be canceled," the minister added.

West Avoids Substantive Conversation on Ukraine for Lack of Arguments

Western countries are avoiding a substantive conversation about the causes of the conflict in Ukraine because they have no arguments for an honest dialog, the Russian top diplomat said.

"Today in the rhetoric of our opponents we hear only slogans: 'invasion, aggression, annexation.' Not a word about the root causes of the problem, about how for many years they have been nurturing a blatantly Nazi regime that openly rewrites the outcome of World War II and the history of its own people. The West is avoiding a substantive conversation based on facts and respect for all the requirements of the UN Charter. Apparently, it has no arguments for an honest dialog," Lavrov stated.

At the same time, the EU wants to grant membership to "Nazis" without them having to wait in line, while Serbia and Turkiye have to wait for years, the foreign minister pointed out.

West Disrupted Implementation of Minsk Agreements, Is Responsible for Ukraine's Collapse

Western countries, which have disrupted the implementation of the Minsk agreements on settlement in Ukraine, are responsible for the collapse of Ukraine and incitement of civil war there, the minister said.

Lavrov noted that today it seems that "Western representatives are afraid of indepth discussions which would expose their demagogy and, speaking about the territorial integrity of Ukraine, forget about the UN decisions on the need for Paris to return 'French' Mayotte to the Union of the Comoros Islands, and for London to withdraw from the Chagos archipelago and start negotiations with Buenos Aires on the Malvinas Islands."

The top diplomat stressed that "these 'champions' of Ukraine's territorial integrity now pretend that they do not remember the purpose of the Minsk agreements, which consisted in the reunification of Donbass with Ukraine with guarantees of respect for fundamental human rights."

"The West, which disrupted their fulfillment [the Minsk Agreements], bears direct responsibility for the collapse of Ukraine and the civil war broke out there," the minister stated.

Furthermore, the West violated the principle of self-determination when it supported the actions of the Kiev regime after the referendums in Crimea and Donbass, Lavrov stressed.

If NATO had not rejected the proposals for cooperation with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the current crisis in Europe could have been avoided, Lavrov stated.

Before Imposing Sanctions, UN Security Council Should Assess Their Humanitarian Consequences

The UN Security Council should assess the humanitarian consequences of sanctions before introducing draft resolutions with restrictive measures, the minister highlighted.

According to the minister, the topic of the so-called humanitarian limits of sanctions requires attention. "It would be right that henceforth the introduction of any sanctions projects in the Security Council be accompanied by the provision of assessments of their consequences by UN humanitarian agencies, rather than demagogic exhortations by Western colleagues that 'ordinary people will not suffer,'" Lavrov stressed.

Moreover, the Russian top diplomat noted that the West is exploiting the principles of the UN Charter in accordance with its own selfish geopolitical needs.

UN General Assembly Should Discuss Non-implementation of Security Council Resolutions, Not Use of Veto

The UN General Assembly should consider the reasons for non-implementation of previously adopted UN Security Council resolutions instead of considering the use of the veto under pressure from Western countries, the Russian top diplomat emphasized.

"Since the procedure for discussing veto cases at the General Assembly has been approved, why not also think about those Security Council resolutions that were not vetoed, were adopted, including many, many years ago, but are still not implemented, despite the provisions of Article 25 of the Charter. Why shouldn't the General Assembly consider the reasons for this state of affairs," Lavrov stated.

The high-level week of the UN General Assembly is taking place in New York from September 19 to 26. The Russian delegation is headed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.