Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that the reason behind the crisis in Ukraine is the West’s attempt to prove its existence at the expense of Russia and to adopt a unipolar policy
Lavrov’s remarks came in a speech today addressed to the professors and students of Moscow State Institute of International Relations
“What is taking place in the world currently does not concern Ukraine alone, but it an attempt to create a new and completely unipolar world order,”
Lavrov added, “There is no longer any doubt that one of the rules that the West is trying to apply is to deter any competitor,” noting that the talk is now about Russia, while it will be on China later
Lavrov explained that the West seeks to replace international law with a “global order based on changing rules”
Lavrov pointed out that the latest round of the conflict in Ukraine did not start with the beginning of Russia’s military operation in its territory, but rather with the West’s rejection of Moscow’s demands to establish a system of legally binding security guarantees
Lavrov clarified that Russia has documents which confirm that the Ukrainian government, before the start of the Russian operation, had been preparing to launch a large-scale attack in order to regain control of the Donbass region by force
On the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, Lavrov considered that it is in Washington’s interest that the negotiations do not proceed quickly, but that the military operation be prolonged and continue to pump weapons in huge quantities to the Kyiv government
Lavrov warned against any steps by NATO to deploy peacekeeping forces in Ukraine because that would be a direct clash with the Russian forces