A sustainable resolution of the Ukrainian conflict is possible only by addressing its root causes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Russia's security must be reliably guaranteed, and the threats posed by NATO's aggressive expansion must be neutralized, he added.
"Attempts to draw Ukraine into this militaristic alliance must stop", the diplomat stressed.
The head of Russian diplomacy stressed that "it is equally important to ensure respect for the rights of Russians and Russian-speaking people in the territories controlled by the Kiev regime“.
By closing the Russian Consulate General in Gdansk, Poland openly demonstrates who the real aggressor is, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
“Warsaw, like a number of other NATO countries, relied on aggression in every sense of the word: some supplied Zelensky with weapons and used them as a tool in the fight against our country, others, politically and economically, used illegitimate means to inflict, as they say, a strategic defeat on Russia“, the diplomat noted.
“This country should ask itself why it is doing all this, because now they are openly demonstrating who the real aggressor is“, Zakharova noted.
According to her, Warsaw apparently believes that “destruction is easier than construction“. “This, as far as I understand, is their position. Why do they need this? Why don't these countries want to live in peace and good neighborliness? Why don't they want to build collective security? Why did they rely on Russophobia?“, noted the official spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry. “This is a question for them, for their regimes, for their governments.“ Zakharova questioned whether Poland is doing this independently, whether NATO is putting pressure on the Polish authorities and whether they are acting as agents of a foreign will.
“This question should be asked to them. We proceeded from different parameters“, she said. “We provided every opportunity and demonstrated goodwill. By the way, this interaction has yielded results“, Zakharova stated.