MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. Russia must reliably ensure its security in a situation where threats to "unleash war" are being voiced in Europe, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated in an interview for the international network TV BRICS.
"Today, however, that goal – ensuring the country’s continued existence – is an exceptionally ambitious one. It includes guaranteeing Russia’s security, particularly at a time when certain individuals in Europe, posing as politicians, openly threaten war against our country. Security also requires preventing the continued existence on our borders of a Nazi state created by the West out of Ukraine and used once again to wage war against Russia," the top Russian diplomat emphasized. "Nazi foundations must be eradicated."
Lavrov stated that Russia will not allow the deployment on Ukrainian territory of any weapons that threaten Russian security interests. "We will, without any doubt, safeguard our security interests by preventing the deployment on Ukrainian territory of any weapons that pose a threat to us and by ensuring full and reliable protection of the rights of people who are Russian and Russian-speaking, who have lived for centuries and continue to live in Crimea, Donbass and Novorossiya - people whom the Kiev regime that came to power after a coup d’·tat labelled as subhuman and terrorists, unleashing a civil war against them," the minister emphasized.
"This is a fundamental task to ensure the survival of our country, alongside economic and social issues constantly monitored by [Russian] President [Vladimir Putin] and addressed by the government," Lavrov stressed.