Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the Indonesian newspaper "Kompas" that the armed confrontation in Ukraine will continue until the West abandons its plans to control and defeat Moscow.

 

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Edited by| Hugh Gey

 

Politic section -  CJ journalist

Ukraine conflict news section      

 

Moscow – July,12,2023

 

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Lavrov said the goal of the US-led West is to strengthen its global hegemony.

Lavrov is scheduled to attend the East Asia Summit and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum in Jakarta this week, as well as U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

"Why does the armed confrontation in Ukraine not end?" Lavrov added in the interview published by the Russian Foreign Ministry's website The answer is very simple - it will continue until the West abandons its plans to maintain its hegemony and overcomes its obsessive desire to inflict a strategic defeat of Russia at the hands of the puppets in Kiev,"he said.

"At the moment, there are no indications of any change in this position,"he added.

In a related context, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council headed by President Vladimir Putin, said that NATO's increased military assistance to Ukraine is bringing World War III closer.

Commenting on the first day of the US-led NATO summit in Lithuania, where a number of countries pledged to provide more weapons and financial support to Kiev, Medvedev said that the aid will not prevent Russia from achieving its goals in Ukraine.

Medvedev wrote on the Telegram messaging app: "the West, which has been replaced by madness, could not come up with something else... In fact, it's a dead end. The Third World War is approaching". "What does all this mean for us?" Everything is clear. The special military operation will continue with the same goals".

On Tuesday, NATO members tried to give guarantees to Kiev by asserting that "Ukraine's future is in NATO", but far from the expectations of its president Volodymyr Zelensky, who demanded that the alliance set a timetable for his country's accession to it.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Ukraine's accession to NATO during the conflict will not happen "because it will lead to the outbreak of a war between the United States and Russia".

"It would be inappropriate to accept Ukraine into NATO, because that would mean the United States entering the war with Russia, President Biden has made it clear from the very beginning that as long as he leads the American administration, this will not happen,"Miller said at a press conference, Tuesday.

Expressing disappointment that Ukraine was not invited to join NATO, Zelensky told his supporters in the Lithuanian capital, " is this an exaggerated wish?"".

He thanked Lithuania for its" clear, sincere and courageous position " in support of Ukraine's membership.

Shortly before the speech, the leaders had agreed that NATO would extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the military alliance when "the members agree and the conditions are met".

Earlier, Zelensky said it would be" absurd " if NATO leaders did not offer his country a time frame for membership.

"I came here today believing in a decision, believing in partners, a strong NATO, an alliance that does not doubt, does not waste time and does not care about any aggressor,"Zelensky told the audience in Ukrainian.

"I hope this belief becomes a certainty .. We are confident in the decisions that we all deserve, which are expected by all our soldiers, all our citizens, all our mothers and all our children. And is this an exaggerated wish".

NATO members in eastern Europe supported Kiev's position, saying that placing Ukraine under the umbrella of the alliance's collective security is the best way to deter Russia from attacking again.

Countries such as the United States and Germany have been more cautious, fearing that any move would drag NATO into direct conflict with Russia.

Lithuanian President gitanas Noseda, who participated in the summit, handed Zelensky a bullet-pierced Ukrainian flag, which was then raised on a mast. The flag was previously hoisted on a Ukrainian tank during the battles in Bakhmut.

 

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