Jakarta –
Minister of Foreign Affairs Russia Sergei Lavrov called for United States of America and NATO to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine if they are “really interested in solving the Ukrainian crisis”.
Reported from the news agency AFPSaturday (30/4/2022), more than two months after starting the invasion of Ukraine in its short-term goal of capturing the capital Kiev, Russia is now intensifying its military operations in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
However, Sergei Lavrov told China’s official Xinhua news agency that “special military operations… are proceeding according to plan”.
“If the US and NATO really interested in solving the crisis Ukrainethen first of all, they must come to their senses and stop supplying the Kiev regime with weapons and ammunition,” Lavrov said.
The Kremlin has previously called Western arms shipments to Ukraine a threat to European security.
In his interview with Xinhua published Saturday, Lavrov said Russia could “retool” its economy to guard against potential “unlawful hostilities”.
He added that the country hit by the barrage of sanctions would focus on moving away from the US dollar and reducing imports, while increasing its technological independence.
Moscow has pursued a “de-dollarization” policy for several years, requiring partners such as China and India to make payments in other currencies.
Since the invasion, Western countries have imposed sanctions that have largely cut Russia’s financial sector out of the global economy.
China itself has avoided condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has defended its strong friendship with Moscow.
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