Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid SlutskyMOSCOW, Apr 26Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, commenting on the words of the British Deputy Minister of Defense James Hippy about Kyiv's attacks on «legitimate military targets» in Russia, called Ukraine a bargaining chip and a means of not only pressure, but also a military deterrence of Russia. Earlier, Hippy said that it is «absolutely legitimate» for Ukraine to launch strikes deep inside Russia in order to disrupt the logistics of military supplies.The West is very scared: Russia is winning «The masks have been thrown off. In fact, the UK Ministry of Defense has publicly signed that Ukraine is just a bargaining chip, a means not only to exert pressure, but also to military deterrence of the Russian Federation,» Slutsky wrote in his Telegram channel , adding that for Western countries, Ukraine is «only a resource for weakening Russia.» According to him, this is not hidden in Washington either. He recalled that a few days ago, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin visited Kyiv, during this visit it was announced that Washington would allocate $ 713 million for military assistance to Ukraine and 15 other European countries, later Austin said that the United States wants see Russia «weakened».
Putin reminded the UN Secretary General of the decision of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo «But nothing, gentlemen, you will not succeed. Your «help» will not interfere with the conduct of a special military operation on the territory of Ukraine. Sooner or later, the fascist junta controlled by you will have to answer for all the crimes,» — Slutsky concluded. 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 Kyiv 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 Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, as of March 25, they have completed the main tasks of the first stage — they have significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
