Russian Foreign Minister Pledges Moscow Will Not Wage War on Ukraine despite Provocations
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov vowed on Monday that Moscow was not going to start a war with Ukraine amid intensified provocations on Kiev's part.
In late November, three ships of the Ukrainian Navy breached the Russian border and were promptly detained by the Russian coast guard after failing to respond to a demand to stop. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the incident was a provocation staged by Kiev ahead of the upcoming Ukrainian presidential campaign, Sputnik reported.
"We will not go to war with Ukraine, that much I can promise you," Lavrov told the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio.
The minister added that it was not necessary to sever diplomatic relations with Ukraine either.
"I don't think [breaking relations] is necessary. The Ukrainian people are not to blame and the majority of Ukrainians, I am sure, want peace for their country, want to get rid of that shameful regime and want to return to normal relations with Russia," the minister added.
