Ukraine War: West Determined To Destroy Russia, Says Russian Envoy At UN

A week before the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin's UN ambassador claimed that the West is driven by its determination to destroy Russia and declared: 바카라�We had no choice other than to defend our country defend it from you, to defend our identity and our future.바카라� Western ambassadors shot back, accusing Russia of using a Security Council meeting it called on lessons learned from the failure to resolve the conflict between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists that began in 2014 to justify what France's U.N. Ambassador Nicolas De Riviere called 바카라�the unjustifiable바카라� Russia's invasion of its smaller neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022.

Friday's meeting in the council the only international venue where Russia regularly faces Ukraine and its Western supporters put a spotlight on the deep chasm between the warring parties as the conflict moves into its second year with no end in sight, tens of thousands of casualties on both sides, and new military offensives expected. Russia's U.N.

Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused Western nations including France and Germany of 바카라�holding back바카라� on implementing the Minsk agreements brokered by the two countries to end the conflict between Ukraine and the separatists in Luhansk and Donetsk in the country's mostly Russian-speaking industrial east that flared in April 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea.

바카라�You knew very well that the Minsk process for you is just a smoke screen, to rearm the Kyiv regime and to prepare it for war against Russia in the name of your geopolitical interest,바카라� Nebenzia said. U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Mills accused Russia of failing to implement 바카라�a single commitment it made바카라� in the Minsk agreements while the other signatories  France, Germany, Ukraine, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe  바카라�sought to implement them in good faith.바카라�

France's De Riviere said his country and Germany have worked 바카라�tirelessly바카라� since 2015 to promote dialogue between parties. 바카라�The difficulties encountered in implementing these agreements can never serve as justification or mitigating circumstances for Russia's choice to end the dialogue with violence,바카라� he stressed.

De Riviere recalled that exactly a year ago, on Feb. 17, 2022, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin reaffirmed to the council that the Minsk agreements were 바카라�the only international legal basis바카라� to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and that rumors of Russian military intervention were unfounded and stemmed from Western paranoia. Four days later, Russia recognized the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, and on Feb. 24 it invaded Ukraine. 바카라�The only lesson to be learned here is that Russia, by attacking Ukraine, has chosen alone, to put an end to dialogue and negotiation,바카라� De Riviere said. 바카라�It took the decision alone to shatter the Minsk agreements, whose main objective, let us remember, was the reintegration of some regions of Donetsk and Luhansk under full Ukrainian sovereignty, in exchange for broad decentralization.바카라�

Britain's U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward also cited Vershinin's statement to the council that allegations of a Russian attack were baseless a week before President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion, and said the United Kingdom had learned some lessons. 바카라�Russia lied when we warned of its intention to attack Ukraine,바카라� she said. 바카라�Russia was planning for war while we called for diplomacy and de-escalation, and Russia continues to choose death and destruction while the world calls for a just peace.바카라�

Russia's Nebenzia blamed 바카라�a criminal policy by the Ukrainian leadership which was goaded by the collective West바카라� for refusing to implement the Minsk agreements. After a year of the war, he told Western members of the Security Council, 바카라�Obviously, we will not be able to live in the future the way we did in the past.바카라� Nebenzia accused the West of 바카라�deep Russophobia," and a 바카라�determination to destroy my country, using others if possible.바카라� And he claimed it is not interested 바카라�in building a European and Euro-Atlantic security system together with Russia바카라� because 바카라�for, you such a system can only be aimed against Russia.바카라�

바카라�We have no trust left in you and we are not able of believing any promises you make not as regards a non-expansion of NATO in the east, or your desire not to interfere in our internal affairs, or your determination to live in peace,바카라� Nebenzia said. 바카라�You have shown that it's impossible to negotiate with you," he said. 바카라�You've shown how treacherous you are by creating on our borders a neo-Nazi, neo-nationalist beehive and then stirring it up.바카라� Ukraine's U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya accused Russia of violating the Minsk agreements, citing as an example the Minsk memorandum of Sept. 19, 2014, ordering all military, militias, and mercenaries to leave Ukraine that was never implemented.

바카라�The truth is that Putin has proved once and for all to be impossible to negotiate with,바카라� he said. 바카라�Russia's consistent undermining and final killing of the Minsk agreements make that crystal clear.바카라� Ukraine urges 바카라�healthy forces in Russia, if there are any, to come to their senses and force Putin to implement the demands of the U.N. General Assembly to immediately cease the use of force and to withdraw Russian military forces from Ukraine,바카라� Kyslytsya said. 바카라�The dictator should give up and recede into the past.바카라�