Against the background of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, it is necessary to avoid situations that could lead to a direct clash between Russia and NATO, said Russia’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich. He called irresponsible the decision of some countries of the alliance to supply weapons to Ukraine.
Mr. Lukashevich spoke at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council. According to the diplomat, Russia considers the statements of a number of NATO countries on the preparation of deliveries of lethal weapons to Ukraine “as a continuation of an irresponsible policy aimed at directly inciting a military escalation.” He argues that such actions “do not fit in with calls for peace sounding from these same countries.”
“Sending weapons to the Kiev regime that can be used against Russian military personnel and civilians creates categorically unacceptable risks. We believe that it is extremely important now to avoid situations and incidents that could lead to a direct clash between Russia and NATO, ”said the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation (quoted by TASS).
On February 24, Vladimir Putin announced a military operation to “denazify and demilitarize” Ukraine. Western countries have imposed tough anti-Russian sanctions, and also began to increase arms supplies to Ukraine. At the Russian Foreign Ministry spokethat they are extremely concerned about this, and did not rule out incidents with NATO that could lead to an escalation of the situation.