Lavrov warns that the
Kiev regime is hatching a scheme for an armed provocation on the border with
Crimea some time in the last ten days of December.
MOSCOW, December 17.
/TASS/. Russia is not going to wage war against Ukraine but will respond in
kind, if Kiev carries out a provocation on the border with Crimea, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station on
Monday.
"We will not
wage war against Ukraine, I promise you," he vowed.
Donbass republics
He stressed that
Ukraine’s domestic problems were "much broader and deeper" than just
the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics (DPR, LPR). That’s
why Russia cannot just recognize the DPR and LPR, as that would be tantamount
to leaving the rest of Ukraine in the hands of the Nazi regime.
"You want to
recognize the LPR and DPR? And what’s next? To lose the rest of Ukraine and
abandon it to the Nazis?" he said, when asked why Russia refused to
recognize these self-proclaimed republics.
Provocation near
Crimea
He noted though that
Kiev was plotting more incitement on the border with Russia. "I am sure
there will be more provocations," he warned. ""[Ukrainian
President Pyotr] Poroshenko is planning an armed provocation on the border with
Russia, on the border with Crimea during the last ten days of December."
The minister vowed
that Russia would not leave that unanswered. "The answer is: they will
regret it. This is our country, this is our border. We will not allow him
[Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko] to try to somehow protect his interests,
the way he sees it, and violate those rights that Crimeans defended in full
accordance with international law," Lavrov stressed.
Russia’s top diplomat
pointed out that the current regime in Kiev was similar to that of neo-Nazis.
"We are not
fighting the Ukrainian regime. It is Ukrainian citizens living in Donbass who
are fighting against the Ukrainian regime, which has full Nazi and neo-Nazi
characteristics," Lavrov pointed out.According to Russia’s data,
Poroshenko has been discussing the upcoming provocation on the border with
Crimea with his Western sponsors. "They advise him to keep low intense
combat actions to enable them to go ahead with propaganda that Russians are
carrying out an offensive against Ukraine and that’s why Russia needs to be hit
by sanctions, but military actions should never switch into a phase that will
be followed by full-scale responses," Lavrov stressed.
Russia’s top diplomat
emphasized that Kiev’s provocations are ongoing. "Our respective services
are making all necessary efforts to thwart these incidents."
Minsk accords
The Minsk agreements
are the only way of overcoming the crisis in the Donbass region, he said.
"There is no
alternative to the Minsk agreements," the minister stressed. "I said
the same thing the year before last as well."
In response to a
journalist’s remark that the Minsk agreements are allegedly not working, he
said, "The UN Charter has likewise been violated on numerous occasions,
and it is does not work many times either. However, it is impermissible to give
in to panic."
Ukrainian regime
Lavrov said the
current Ukrainian regime is similar to that of neo-Nazis.
"We are not
fighting against the Ukrainian regime. These are Ukrainian citizens living in
Donbass, who are fighting against the Ukrainian regime, which has all
characteristics of Nazis and neo-Nazis," Lavrov said.
When asked why Moscow
is not severing ties with Kiev, Lavrov stressed: "We have relations with
the Ukrainian state, the Ukrainian state is much more and more important for us
than that regime, which is currently in power thanks to the West’s betrayal of
all norms of the international law and international behavior."
"The Ukrainian
people have nothing to do with it, and I’m sure that most Ukrainian citizens
wish peace to their country and want it to get rid of this shameful regime and
resume normal ties with Russia," he said.
To this aim,
Ukraine’s domestic problems need to be settled, which are "much broader
and deeper than simply the Lugansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s
Republic.".
Source: ITAR-TASS
17-12-2018
