UNITED NATIONS, July 18. /TASS/. Western countries controlling the Kiev authorities do not want peace in Ukraine, and that is why Russia has to fulfill the objectives of the special military operation by military means, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said on Tuesday.

"If peace depended on ordinary Ukrainians and not on the puppet Kiev regime, it would have come long ago. However, Russia today deals in Ukraine primarily with Washington and its NATO allies, who are waging a proxy war against Russia to the last Ukrainian. And peace in Ukraine is not in their plans yet," he told the UN General Assembly. "And that is why we have to solve the tasks of our special military operation militarily," the diplomat said.

Polyansky added that the steps Russia is taking, including strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, are aimed at "weakening and reducing to zero its [the Kiev regime's] military potential and making sure that no threat ever emanates from Ukraine" to Russia and its citizens.