MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. The idea that Russia is allegedly destroying Ukraine’s cultural heritage is baseless, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a joint meeting of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO.
"Attempts to disparage Russia for the so-called destruction of Ukraine’s cultural heritage are along the same lines. Even though nobody can present any evidence toward this end; it simply does not exist," he said.
"Just as UNESCO has no right to assign blame, something that is recognized, by the way, by the very employees of the UNESCO Secretariat in private conversations," the top Russian diplomat pointed out.
That said, Lavrov noted the West’s attempts to politicize UNESCO’s activities. "This year, now almost over, has not been an easy one for UNESCO. You know that following the onset of the special military operation, the collective West began increasing efforts to further politicize UNESCO and Ukrainianize its agenda. The proverbial double standards are regularly seen in the anti-Russian decisions pushed through by the West, strong-arming developing countries: on Crimea, Ukraine, decisions that are simply beyond UNESCO’s purview. It has no authority in these spheres," the Russian foreign minister concluded.