Russian Foreign Minister Sergey LavrovMOSCOW, Mar 18Russia can now rely only on itself and its remaining allies, there are no more illusions about the West, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. to adapt to new circumstances. After 2014, we gained experience that allowed us to rely on our own strength. And the most important lesson from this historical period. Of course, this is now not even comparable in scale to what it was after 2014. However, now the illusion that we can count on Western partners has been destroyed. Now we can only count on ourselves and those allies who will stay with us,» Lavrov said in an interview with RT.
«Let's go to disaster.» Do Europe and China need anti-Russian sanctions Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops. With the support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. But there is no question of the occupation of Ukraine, the President of Russia emphasized. In response, Western countries introduced new anti-Russian sanctions. In particular, several of the largest banks in the Russian Federation, including Sberbank and VTB, fell under them. The European Union, the USA, Canada and a number of other countries have closed the skies for Russian aircraft. A number of state-owned companies found it difficult to attract foreign capital. Sanctions have been imposed on the supply of high-tech products to Russia. Many major brands announced the suspension of their activities or leaving Russia.
The State Duma commented on Minsk's statement about an ally in the face of Russia
