MOSCOW, March 28. /TASS/. Those wishing to restore Ukraine’s 1991 borders should think about the Donbass people whom Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky sought to kick out of the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with TASS on Tuesday.
"Not so long ago, when asked what he thought about the people of Donbass, Zelensky said that there were humans and there were creatures," Lavrov noted. "Mr Zelensky went on to say that if some Ukrainian citizens felt part of Russian culture and the Russian world, he would advise those people to get out of Ukraine and move to Russia for the sake of their children and grandchildren," Lavrov added.
"Today, Zelensky and his clique, backed by Europe, the United States and in general, the collective West, demand the return of territories within the borders of 1991, which existed at the time of Ukraine’s independence, and I have a question for those who indulge such demands: what attitude will they adopt towards what is going to happen to these people?" the top diplomat said.
Lavrov pointed out that Zelensky was scrupulously following the policy set out by his predecessors. "The first initiative put forward by those who came to power after the [2014] coup demanded that the Russian language’s regional status be canceled and Russians be driven from Crimea," the Russian foreign minister said.
"Mr Poroshenko, who became the country’s president later, showed off his ideas, saying that the Ukrainian regime would definitely defeat those opposing the coup and the children of Ukrainians loyal to the regime would go to wonderful kindergartens, schools and colleges, while the children of those who refused to accept the coup would have to hide in basements," Lavrov stressed.