Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov assured on Saturday that regions of Ukraine where Russia’s annexation referendums are held will receive “full protection from Moscow”, predicting the risk of escalation of the conflict and the possibility of using nuclear weapons after the results of the vote.
Serguei attended the closing ceremony of the UN General Assembly in New York, where he made a speech. He repeated the misinformation that the Kyiv government was “legitimate” and “consisted of neo-Nazis” and criticized the United States.
“Today, sovereign countries are ready to defend their national interests, but geopolitical processes are not accepted by Washington and the elite of Western countries subordinate to the United States. The Americans and their allies want to stop the path of history,” he said. chancellor “By declaring themselves the victors of the Cold War, they also declared themselves masters of the world.”
From Friday 23 to Tuesday 27, Moscow is holding referendums in the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine, and in Kherson and Zaporizhia in the south, controlled by Russian troops. The vote, described as nonsense by Westerners, aims to legitimize the annexation of these regions by Russia, following the start of the country’s occupation in February.
The Ukrainian government says the population of these places has been forced to vote and cannot move while the vote is in progress.
nuclear threat
After the speech, the press asked Lavrov whether Russia would be willing to use nuclear weapons to defend the annexed areas. “All laws, doctrines, concepts and strategies of the Russian Federation will apply to the entire territory of its territory, including the later integrated ones,” he replied.
“After these referendums, Russia will of course respect the expression of the will of these people who have suffered for years from the abuses of the neo-Nazi regime. [ucraniano]”, said the Russian minister.
Then Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Lavrov’s comments were “irresponsible” and “totally unacceptable”.
“Ukraine will not give up. We want all nuclear powers to raise their voices and understand that this rhetoric endanger the world and will not be tolerated,” he said on Twitter. Kuleba called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council for referendums, the results of which will not be recognized by Western countries.
With information from Reuters
source: Noticias
