MOSCOW, May 30. /TASS/. West deliberately tried to set Ukraine against Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told France’s TF1 television in an interview.

"It’s hard to understand what is going on now without taking a look at the longstanding history of how the West was indoctrinating Ukraine to be Russia’s enemy. There are no doubts that it was a deliberate effort. There are reasons why we were left with no choice but to defend Russian people living in Ukraine, who are citizens of this country, from neo-Nazi lawlessness, to defend the Russian language and culture," Lavrov said.

The minister once again outlined the goals of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, which are "protecting people, demilitarization of Ukraine (there should be no weapons on its territory that poses a threat to Russia), restoring the rights of the Russian language in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine (the Kiev government violated it by adopting anti-Russian laws) and conventions to which Ukraine is a signatory, and de-Nazification."

"Nazi and neo-Nazi theories and practices are deeply rooted within the ‘fabric’ of Ukraine’s daily life, and are sealed in the country’s laws. We tried to draw attention to that as well, but our Western friends only shrugged off the issue. It has now become clear that they even considered it useful. The goal was to deter our country by creating threats for Russia," the Russian top diplomat said.