ST. PETERSBURG, June 9. /TASS/. The European Union has demonstrated its real values by driving the Ukrainian from their homes and depriving them of their jobs, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS on the margins of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
She noted that at the beginning the West tended to romanticize and even heroize Ukrainian refugees, "put them on a pedestal, saying that they are a kind of martyrs." "They gave them everything: apartments, houses, jobs or simply paid allowances. And what is happening now? They are being striped of allowances, deprived of jobs, thrown away from houses. They are now treated as outcasts in the European Union. This is what they have now. And this reveals the West’s so-called scale of values," she said.
The Russian diplomat stressed that nobody in the West really cares about Ukraine and its citizens. They "simple abused" this country, she added.
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) was held on June 5-8. This year’s theme was "The Formation of New Areas of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World." Scheduled events included meetings for small and medium-sized businesses, creative industries, the SPIEF Youth Day, as well as the Drug Security, SPIEF Academy and SPIEF Junior forums. SPIEF was organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS was the information partner of the event.