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Russia’s envoy blasts double standards in statement of NATO-Ukraine Commission

Russia's Ambassador to NATO Alexander Grushko called the statement a flagrant manifestation of double standards
NATO military exercises in Ukraine (archive) EPA/IVAN BOBERSKYY
NATO military exercises in Ukraine (archive)
© EPA/IVAN BOBERSKYY

BRUSSELS, December 3. /TASS/. The joint statement of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, which attempts to shift the blame on Moscow for the crisis in Ukraine, is counterproductive and highlights double standards, Russia's Ambassador to NATO Alexander Grushko said on Wednesday.

“This statement is a flagrant manifestation of double standards,” he said in an interview with Russian journalists.

Grushko said the statement is also "irrelevant” as the foreign ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are expected to discuss the Ukrainian conflict at a meeting in Basel, Switzerland, on December 4-5.

“In fact, everything is devoted to the effort to lay the responsibility for what is happening in Ukraine on the Russian Federation,” Grushko stressed.

The diplomat said he was surprised by the fact that “the calls and even references to the Minsk agreements, which were made in the statement, were interpreted so that they address only the Russian side, not the Kiev authorities.”

“One cannot help but wonder why NATO has found no words condemning the continuing shelling with the use of military hardware of residential buildings, hospitals, power facilities,” Grushko said.

The diplomat also expressed concerns by the fact that the statement failed to mention Kiev’s economic blockade of eastern Ukraine, “although the Minsk protocol directly implies taking measures to improve the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine.”

The West accuses Russia of aiding militias in eastern Ukraine, while Moscow has repeatedly denied the claims condemning Kiev’s military operation as war against Ukraine’s own people. Russia has repeatedly said that the current events in Ukraine are the result of a deep political and economic crisis there.