On January 23, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, at a press conference following talks with South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, said that Russia’s relations with the West no longer have the character of a hybrid, but almost a real war.
“When we talk about what is happening there, in Ukraine, we are talking about the fact that this is no longer a hybrid war, but almost a real one, which the West has been preparing for a long time against Russia, seeking to destroy everything Russian,” he said.
The Minister noted that everything in Ukraine has been destroyed for centuries – from language to culture.
Also at a press conference, Lavrov said that Western countries are directly telling Kyiv that negotiations with Moscow can only be started from a position of strength in order to return Russia to the 1991 borders. He noted that this position is voiced by the head of diplomacy of the European Union (EU) Josep Borrell, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and other Western politicians.
On January 20, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov announced that the United States and its allies had unleashed an all-out hybrid war against Russia on its own territory, cashing in on NATO partners. As the Russian ambassador emphasized, Moscow has repeatedly warned the United States that the course they have taken to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia is leading the world to a catastrophic scenario.
The day before, Antonov said that the rhetoric of US officials was becoming more and more militant.
Earlier, on January 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that there have always been attempts to revive Nazism in the West, but they must be anathematized.
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special operation to protect Donbass. The decision was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian military.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
