cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11493031
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski confronted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the UN Security Council on Wednesday, rejecting Kremlin claims about Ukraine.
Sikorski dismantled Lavrov’s claims one by one – from Moscow’s portrayal of Ukraine’s 2014 revolution to the status of the Russian language – before delivering a blunt message to the Kremlin over its war against Ukraine.
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Sikorski began by answering Lavrov directly after the Russian foreign minister invoked him by name and described the events that removed former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 as a “bloody coup.”
“Mr. President, please allow me a few extra sentences because I was called out by name by the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, and I feel I need to answer.
“First of all, he [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov] calls the events of 2014 in Kyiv in Ukraine a bloody coup. I was indeed there with the foreign ministers of Germany and France, and there was no coup.
“The President of Ukraine, Mr. Yanukovych, was voted out of office by a democratically elected parliament of Ukraine, including by his own Party of Regions.
“Because he carried out a massacre in which 100 or more Ukrainian civilians were killed.”
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Sikorski next rejected Lavrov’s claim that the Russian language is banned in Ukraine.
“Mr. Lavrov also claims, and I quote from the transcript, that in the territory of Ukraine, there is a total ban on the Russian language in all spheres.
“I was in Kyiv 10 days ago under Russian bombs, and I can assure him that the Russian language is widely spoken there.
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Sikorski said Moscow’s escalation reflected mounting pressure on the Kremlin after more than four years of its full-scale invasion rather than Russian strength.
“Russia is escalating because Russia’s leadership is panicking.
“After more than four years of a senseless colonial war, Vladimir Putin has achieved nothing.
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“He is running out of troops and resources and needs a pretext to mobilize.
“His unnecessary war has killed or wounded one and a half million Russians.
“Millions of Ukrainians and other Europeans are increasingly in danger.
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Sikorski warned that the danger was spreading beyond Ukraine, pointing to strikes near NATO borders, airspace violations and Russian-linked sabotage and covert operations across Europe.
“Russia is now bringing the same tactics into Europe.
“On September 13, a Russian jet-powered drone hit a Ukrainian train barely two kilometers from the border crossing with Poland.
“Another followed on the 17th.
“Drones and missiles have also attacked border crossings with Moldova and Romania.
“Russia planted an armed drone at Leipzig Airport in Germany.
“Russian drones and aircraft have violated the airspace of, among others, Lithuania, Estonia, Norway and Finland.
“Russian hit squads have killed people in Spain, Britain, Poland and Germany.”
‘Now They Are Reaching Across the Atlantic’
Sikorski then pointed to a US criminal case involving a Russian intelligence network, warning that Moscow’s covert operations were reaching beyond Europe.
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Sikorski then addressed Russia’s representatives directly, contrasting Moscow’s failure to conquer Ukraine with the vastly greater economic weight of the countries standing behind Kyiv.
“To the representatives of the Russian Federation, I have this to say:
“You have been trying to conquer Donbas for over 12 years, and Kyiv for over four.
“You have been stopped by heroic Ukraine, a country with one-tenth of Russia’s GDP.
“But Poland has almost half of your GDP.
“Europe has 10 times your GDP.
“NATO has 25 times your GDP.
“You can still kill a lot of people, but you cannot win.”
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Sikorski closed with a direct message to Lavrov, telling him to carry the warning straight to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“You can stop this imperial war of choice at any time.
“Don’t endanger Europe and the world any further. Stop destroying Russia’s future.
“Sergey, I know you’re listening. Tell your boss: Enough is enough.”