Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov blames West for ongoing Ukraine war

DENPASAR: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday blamed the West for the ongoing war in Ukraine and said that they had been "planning for many years."

Responding to a draft declaration by leaders of the G20, he said, "Indeed, there's a war going on in Ukraine, a hybrid war that the West unleashed and had been planning for many years now from the time it supported the power grab in the wake of the coup by openly racist neo-Nazi forces. Since then, NATO has been intensively developing Ukrainian territory, conducting military exercises and supplying weapons. You are aware of what happened next: the sabotage of the Minsk agreements and early phases of preparations for a military operation against Donbas." Lavrov said that Western countries had tried to "politicise" a joint declaration at the Group of 20 (G20) summit, accusing them of pushing to include a line condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine on behalf of all participating countries.

"Yes, our Western colleagues tried in every way to make that declaration politicised and tried to push through language that implied condemning the actions of the Russian Federation on behalf of the entire G20, which includes us," Lavrov said.

"But let's do this in a fair way and let's make it clear that, on this topic, we have differences," Lavrov said.

Lavrov, who was representing President Vladimir Putin, left Bali on Wednesday, a day ahead of the scheduled conclusion of the G20 Summit held amid the economic challenges triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war. (ANI)

Also Read: Chinese firms buying land near US military base poses security threat

Also Watch: