Tazeen Akhtar
The Russian Ambassador to Pakistan H.E. Mr. Albert Khorev has said, ” USA is selling weapons to Europe for Ukraine on heavy prices. Western countries hypocritically continue to pump weapons into Ukraine under the pretext of peace talks. This ignores the widespread corruption of the Ukrainian leadership, which cannot ensure the control of the acquired weapons, resulting in the spread of these weapons around the world, and it is unlikely that It is possible that these will fall into the hands of global terrorist organizations. In just two years, Western countries allocated almost 2 trillion dollars to Ukraine.”
He said this in his briefing to Pakistani journalists at the Russian Embassy Islamabad on 21 Feb 2024. It was his first exposure not introduction/meeting to the local journalists because the Ambassador left the stage soon after the last questions of this scribe were replied partially. Ambassador took more than two hours of the journalists but did not spare two minutes to shake hand and meet personally.
In the briefing, the Ambassador said, “Western countries are the culprits of the World. Sale of weapons is profitable for USA. Ukrainian land is being used by US laboratories where humans are being subjected to experiments. US is violating the convention against Biological and Chemical weapons.”
Ambassador expressed hope that independent foreign policy will be adopted in this case by independent states including Pakistan.
He named Gaza two times in the presser. Once with European assertions on the plight of children’s deaths in conflict zone and second with double standards of Europe and USA about Ukraine Issue and about Gaza as well.
He referred to commemoration of 10-year anniversary of (what he said) unconstitutional uprising in Ukraine on February 22-21, 2014 – the culmination of “Euromaidan” to oust the legally elected President Viktor Yanukovych, who favored friendly relations with Russia. – while the West encouraged “Euromaidan” to distance Ukraine from Russia.”
President Putin – The then Ukrainian President Viktor (Pro) President Zelensky (Anti)
Ambassador said, Today, on the 10th anniversary of the coup d’état in Ukraine, held a briefing and answered questions from the Pakistani media on the situation around the conflict in Ukraine. The event featured a photo exhibition and a documentary about the consequences of Euromaidan.
I would like to remind that at that time Ukraine was aiming to consolidate its trade and economic obligations under the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Association Agreement with the European Union. It was possible to avoid violent incidents by reaching a mutually acceptable agreement. But the West took the other route and actively supported the rise to power of extremist nationalist authorities.
Just 10 years ago there was an opportunity to maintain the status quo in the legal arena. On 21 February 2014, the President of Ukraine signed an agreement with opposition leaders to resolve the political crisis in the country, to form a government of national unity, adopt constitutional amendments and then hold general elections. The plan was – the guarantors of this agreement were then the foreign ministers of Germany and Poland and the representatives of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Nevertheless, the very next day, the opposition arbitrarily announced the resignation of the president and the formation of their own government. However, there was an open rebellion against the constitution, while the EU, including the US and the so-called guarantor countries, ignored it and, as it is now clear, actively supported it.
Ambassador to Pakistan H.E. Mr. Albert Khorev said ;
The uprising in Kiev exposed deep divisions in Ukrainian society and laid the groundwork for civil war. Ukrainian extremists had directed all their forces to seize power in the rest of the country, including violence, violation of the rights of the local population, calls to ban the Russian language, opposition parties and organizations, unwanted media bans and incitement of neo-Nazi propaganda was included.
Many regions of Ukraine did not want to submit to the new anti-Russian government. For example, in a referendum in March 2014, the population of the Crimean peninsula voted to reunify with the Russian Federation, and in May the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics were declared, which later joined Russia.
Since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, Russia has made the most active efforts to resolve it through peaceful, diplomatic means. On February 12, 2015, with the help of our country and other international mediators, a set of measures was signed to implement the Minsk Agreements, a political solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the reintegration of the Donbass region into Ukraine. Got a chance to do it. The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved this document through Resolution 2202, Ambassador continued.
Ambassador shared, at the same time, by sending arms and advisers to Ukraine, the Western countries were collectively turning Ukraine into their battleground against Russia from 2014 to 2022. As Russian President Vladimir Putin put it in a recent conversation with American journalist Tucker Carlson, the West has benefited from the “Minsk Agreements” to increase the militarization of Ukraine. It was clear that Russia doing everything possible to solve the problem peacefully found the negative response. In the face of outright threats to its security, Russia had no choice but to initiate aggressive military action.
The correctness of Russia’s position has been proven by reputable international institutions. On January 31, the United Nations International Court of Justice, in its final decision on Ukraine’s claim against Russia, refused to consider our country a “state sponsor” of terrorism and declared it an “aggressor state”. The court also dismissed accusations against Russia of discrimination against Tatar Muslims living in Crimea.
Ambassador Albert Khorev said ;
Without achieving any success on the battlefield, the Kiev government continues to carry out terrorist attacks on civilian facilities and social facilities on Russian soil, resulting in civilian casualties. On February 3, Ukrainian forces, using American rocket launchers, shelled the city of Lysychans’k. 28 civilians were killed in this attack. UN Secretary General António Guterres has condemned this crime. But none of the Western leaders have done the same.
On February 15, Ukrainian armed forces attacked residential areas of Belgorod city of Russia.7 people including a child died. The scandal culminated in a US-made rocket attack near Belgorod in late January this year that downed a marker of a Russian IL-76 plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war for exchange. All of them died along with the entire crew of the plane who were Russian.
IL-76 Plane Crash: the Exposure of Contradictory Russian Narratives
Russia has never refused a political and diplomatic solution to this problem. It was the Kiev government and its president Zelensky who approved the law banning themselves from holding talks with the Russian leadership in 2022. In order to deceive the international community, Western countries are constantly promoting Zelensky’s “peace formula”, which does not reflect reality, but it is a set of ultimatum demands only, including an unconditional refusal to struggle in Donbass, Crimea , including withdrawal of forces from Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions, payment of reparations and self-incrimination (by Russia) before international tribunals. Mr. Albert Khorev noted.
By forcing their views on others, Ukraine and the Western countries downplay the importance of peace initiatives offered by other countries, including China, Brazil and several African states, which have many rational proposals and Moscow supports them.
H.E said, While the European Union provided less than 80 billion for seven years of aid to the countries of the Global South. It is important to understand that supplying arms to Ukraine is a profitable business venture for the United States: by emptying their warehouses of weapons for the Ukrainian armed forces, European countries are forced to buy weapons from the United States at much higher prices.
Western countries continue to exploit the “child subject”. On February 2, Canada’s foreign minister issued a statement on the so-called “international coalition on the return of Ukrainian children” – a narrative Russophobe forces are trying to deflect from humanitarian concerns. In reality, Western leaders are not interested in the fate of children in Ukraine.
MORE SUBSTANTIAL AND TANGIBLE STEPS ARE REQUIRED FOR PUTIN’S VISIT TO PAKISTAN : RUSSIAN ENVOY
Ambassador H.E. Mr. Albert Khorev alleged;
“Since 2014, more than 800 children have been killed or injured in the Donbass region as a result of operations by the Ukrainian armed forces, and 51 children were killed in Russia’s border areas in 2023 alone. Have Western countries condemned the crimes of the Kiev government? Have they done anything to stop the suffering of Palestinian children in Gaza?”
Russia goes to great lengths to ensure the safety of children. Our country has sheltered hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine, including hundreds of thousands of minors who were fleeing operations by the Ukrainian armed forces.
The goals of the special military operation of Russian Federation remain unwavering—demilitarizing Ukraine and freeing it from Nazi ideology, removing threats to our nation’s security from its territory. Countering Ukraine’s countermeasures, the Russian Armed Forces continue to conduct successful military operations, maintain strategic advantages along the entire length of the front line, and continue to advance, Mr. Kherov said.
On February 17, our troops, in a successful operation, liberated the city of Udevka, which the Kiev government had turned into a strong fortification. The battlefield situation proves that the Western countries’ efforts to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia have failed.
Ambassador in conclusion, urged Pakistani journalists to provide unbiased reporting and analysis on the situation related to Ukraine. He said, “I want to emphasize that there are not only Western biased sources on this topic.”
The President of China & Russia Stress Settling the Ukraine Crisis Through Dialogue
Ambassador did not comment on election in Pakistan and about Imran Khan. He said ,”It is internal matter of Pakistan. We do not comment on internal affairs.”
This scribe asked ;
1- How many states in Council of Independent States are with Russia. Mainly Belarus only stands with Russia because President Lukashenko is friend of President Putin.
2- Among other states of CIS, if you see at European side, Latvia,Lithuania,Estonia joined European Union, so how long Russia can keep the states away from NATO.
3- On Central Asian side, Russia sent forces to Kazakhstan last year when riots erupted there and that was disliked by many in and around the region.
4- In South Caucasus, Russia was mediating between Azerbaijan and Armenia but failed to bring a peaceful solution and finally Azerbaijan took over the territories.
5- Who is responsible for end of Grain Agreement that created food crisis in many countries of the region.
Ambassador replied to question 1 only and said, ” It is not correct that we have only one ally Belarus. We have many other friends in CIS. Russia is present in multi dimensional formats like SCO, BRICS and others as well. We have connections with many countries in the world.”
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