FM Sergey Lavrov’s interview with TASS news agency, St Petersburg (June 16, 2022)
We are defending Donbass. We had to recognise the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic. We will uphold their independence within the borders where they held the referendum in 2014.
You see the people’s response in the DPR, the LPR, the Kherson region and Zaporozhye region, and a number of other Ukrainian regions. They want to
build a peaceful life without constantly experiencing fear of the neo-Nazis who have been abusing them all these long years.
We are key initiators of the statements that were made at the Russian-US summits, as well as those made on behalf of the leaders of the five UN Security Council permanent member countries, saying that
there can be no winners in a nuclear war and so it must never be unleashed. That is our position. We are strongly committed to it.
