Lavrov said the problem with humanitarian corridors is that \u201cthey are being ignored by Ukrainian ultranationalists\u201d
\n DUBAI
\nMoscow does not consider itself to be at war with NATO, but NATO does, Russia\u2019s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has told Al-Arabiya in an exclusive interview.
\nHe brushed aside UN chief Antonio Guterres\u2019 proposals for humanitarian assistance and evacuation of civilians, saying: \u201cThere is no need for anybody to provide help to open humanitarian corridors. There is only one problem \u2026 humanitarian corridors are being ignored by Ukrainian ultranationalists.
\n\u201cWe appreciate the interest of the secretary-general to be helpful \u2026 (We have) explained \u2026 what is the mechanism for them to monitor how the humanitarian corridors are announced.\u201d
\nAsked about the risks of war spilling into Moldova after a series of explosions rattled a breakaway border region within the country, Lavrov said: \u201cMoldova should worry about its own future \u2026 because they are being pulled into NATO.\u201d
\nIn an hour-long interview with Talal Al-Haj, Al-Arabiya news channel\u2019s New York\/UN bureau chief, which aired on Friday night, Lavrov offered the Russian government\u2019s perspective of the Ukraine conflict, which is now into its third month, having already claimed tens of thousands of lives, civilians as well as soldiers, on both sides.
\n\u201cUnfortunately, NATO, it seems, considers itself to be at war with Russia,\u201d he said. \u201cNATO and EU leaders, many of them, in England, in the US, Poland, France, Germany and of course EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell, they bluntly, publicly and consistently say, \u2018Putin must fail, Russia must be defeated.\u2019 When you use this terminology, I believe you think that you are at war with the person who you want to be defeated.\u201d
\nThe Russian government has said its \u201cspecial military operation\u201d in Ukraine is aimed at protecting Russia\u2019s security and that of Russian-speaking people in the eastern Donbas region. Western nations have accused Russia of invading a sovereign country and of committing war crimes.
\nSince the invasion began on February 24, the US, UK and EU have sanctioned more than 1,000 Russian individuals and businesses and wealthy businessmen, with the US banning all Russian oil and gas imports.
\nThe financial measures are designed to damage Russia\u2019s economy and penalize President Vladimir Putin, high-ranking officials, and people who have benefited from his rule.
\nLavrov said: \u201cTo believe that this latest outrage and the wave of sanctions, which eventually showed the real face of West which, as far as I now understand, has always been Russian-phobic, to believe that this latest wave of sanctions is going to make Russia cry uncle and to beg for being pardoned, those planners are lousy and of course they don\u2019t know anything about foreign policy of Russia and they don\u2019t know anything about how to deal with Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lavrov said the problem with humanitarian corridors is that \u201cthey are being ignored by Ukrainian ultranationalists\u201d DUBAI Moscow does not consider itself to be at war with NATO, but NATO does, Russia\u2019s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has told Al-Arabiya in an exclusive interview. He brushed aside UN chief Antonio Guterres\u2019 proposals for humanitarian assistance and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1116,338,6488,6743,932],"class_list":{"0":"post-258531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world","7":"tag-nato","8":"tag-russia","9":"tag-sergei-lavrov","10":"tag-sergey-lavrov","11":"tag-war"},"yoast_head":"\n