MOSCOW, April 29. /TASS/. Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine will be finished as soon as its objectives are achieved, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Al Arabiya television channel.
"It will be completed as soon as the goals, which I have already described, are accomplished and achieved," he said.
In Lavrov’s view, any weapons shipment to Ukraine is a legitimate target.
"Because those weapons are to be handed to the regime that is waging a war against its own population, against civilians in the country’s east," he said.
Lavrov pointed out that the goal of the Russian operation was declared openly, which is to defend the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) and make sure that no threat to security of those people and to security of Russia will emanate from Ukrainian territory.
"For long eight years, people were victims of Ukrainian aggression, [as] 13,000 civilians were killed and infrastructure was destroyed. A huge number of crimes were committed by the Ukrainian regime," he added.
The minister emphasized that the special operation was a response to what NATO was doing in Ukraine to prepare that country for an aggressive stand against Russia.
"They were provided with offensive weapons, including the weapons capable of reaching Russian territory. Military bases were built, including at the Sea of Azov. Dozens of military exercises were conducted, and many of them on Ukrainian soil with NATO assistance. And most of those drills were aimed against Russia’s interests. Therefore, the goal of this operation is to make sure that those plans do not materialize," the Russian foreign minister said.
Additionally, Lavrov pointed out that the incidents involving attacks on facilities inside Russia had proved the need to achieve the goals of the special operation.
"The Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation [Sergey Shoigu] provided information on those situations. Some of them were incidents and some were the result of helicopter attacks from Ukraine. It has become evident that the goals of the military operation, which I have described, must be accomplished. I can assure you that during this military operation the Kiev regime’s escapades have been taken care of," he minister noted.