LONDON, April 23. /TASS/. The UK and other Western countries seek to use Ukraine as an instrument of military-political confrontation with Russia, the Russian Embassy in London said on Tuesday in comments on statements by British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt made as he was congratulating Vladimir Zelensky on being elected as President of Ukraine.
"Such statements only underline that the real aim of the so-called support provided over the last years to the Ukrainian government by the UK and other Western countries is not at all helping the Ukrainian people and improving their lives, but using Ukraine as a tool of military-political confrontation with Russia," the embassy said in a commentary.
"In his statement Mr Hunt said the UK's interest in supporting Ukraine was due to the country’s position ‘on the front-line of Russia’s challenge to the rules-based international system’," the embassy said. "The Foreign Secretary also mentioned that Ukraine’s ‘stability is essential for Europe’s security’. ‘Cooperation on defense and security’ was identified as the first among the areas of future cooperation between London and Kiev," the embassy added.
"It is worth mentioning that the statement, while expressing readiness for defense cooperation with Ukraine, does not say a word on the need for political settlement of the conflict in the east of the country through negotiations based on the Minsk Agreements," the embassy stressed.
The best way to bring stability to Ukraine is to encourage the Ukrainian government to engage in direct dialogue with its own citizens in the east, the embassy noted. "The continuation of the current British rhetoric, not to mention the practical implementation of the proposed plans, is unlikely to contribute to a normalization in Donbass," the embassy concluded.