UNITED NATIONS, July 18. /TASS/. Russia is ready to coexist peacefully with Ukraine, but it will not put up with the violation of the rights of the Russian-speaking population and shelling of Donbass cities, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky told a meeting of the UN General Assembly on Ukraine on Tuesday.

"We still see Ukrainians as brothers and sisters and are always ready to live in good-neighborly peace and harmony, as it was before 2014," Polyansky said. "Several million Ukrainians voluntarily settled precisely in Russia after the Maidan coup and the start of the hot phase of the Ukrainian crisis," he added.

"Contrary to what you may hear from Western and Ukrainian propagandists, we have never set out to destroy Ukrainian identity, to Russify Ukraine," Polyansky said. "We were quite satisfied with it as it was," he added. "But we could not and will not put up with blatant violations of the rights of the Russian-speaking population (contrary, by the way, to the constitution of Ukraine itself), with the whitewashing of Nazi henchmen and their glorification, with the shelling of peaceful towns in Donbass," the diplomat went on to say.

Polyansky noted that in 2014, Russian-speaking citizens accounted for about 40% of Ukraine’s population. "Is it something illegal to ask for respect for the right to speak one's language, practice one's faith and honor the heroes who liberated their land from the fascists?" he asked.