“We are concerned about the approach of NATO because it is understood as an enemy of Russia”, says the Russian ambassador in Ecuador | International | News

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues and the forces of the former continue to advance. Yesterday Russian troops launched more than 30 missiles against a base just 20 km from the Polish border, which has caused at least 35 deaths, in an escalation of the war that brings it closer to the territory of the European Union for the first time ( EU) since the invasion began.

Russian forces are currently trying to surround the Ukrainian forces in the east of the country by trying to encircle them “by advancing from Kharkiv in the north and the besieged Mariupol in the south,” says the latest part of British military intelligence.

These sources maintain that the Russian forces advancing from Crimea want to head west towards Odessa.

Last week the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, He spoke about what would be the main conditions for Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine: recognition of Crimea as part of Russia, recognition of the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics, and establishing Ukraine’s neutrality by law.

Regarding this last point, the ambassador of the Russian Federation in Ecuador, Vladimir Sprinchanexplains that with the issue of neutrality he means that Ukraine should not be part of a political or military bloc hostile to Russia, that is, neither the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nor the European Union (EU).

“The United States, NATO and Ukraine, in their strategic foreign policy documents name Russia as an enemy, and with Ukraine’s entry into NATO it is approaching Russia’s borders. We know very well the violation of the commitments of 1997, when NATO promised Russia not to receive new members, but another 14 European countries entered and located their new military bases there. For example, in Romania and Poland”, says Sprinchan.

He adds that if Ukraine entered the military bloc it would open up the possibility of creating a base in that country, for example, in the city of Kharkov, since it only takes 4 minutes to launch an attack against Moscow.

“Russia wants to ensure its security so as not to have a bloc near its borders that is not friendly… that seeks to end its sovereignty, independence, economy and people… because (NATO) understands itself as an enemy of Russia”, says Sprinchan.

For him, classifying his country as an enemy is due to its continuous growth in economics and political influence in a world that remained unipolar after the end of the Cold War, since they only want to maintain the “rules created in Washington”, but Now, with the emergence of countries like China and other actors, it seems to the United States something that goes against its security.

“But how do you think that we feel insecurity in a neighboring country and the United States sees it in a country in another hemisphere, there is a difference… Russia maintains traditions, customs, history, religion, its principles that the family is between men and woman… those are our most important principles in our country, in our culture, which is different from the culture of other countries, but a part of the world believes that everyone has to be the same as they imagine, as they think it’s right,” says Sprinchan.

The latter is said in reference to the strong criticism against the Russian regime for its position against the LGBTI community, which accuses it of persecution and discrimination.

Regarding the talks between his country and Ukraine, he comments that both countries remain strong in their points of view, mainly because the Government of Ukraine does not want to accept the Crimea and Donbas (region in which Donetsk and Lugansk are located).

“One day before the (Russian) military operation started, Ukraine declared that it could give up its position of not having nuclear weapons and President (Volodimir) Zelensky declared that he is ready to create an atomic bomb,” says Sprinchan, pointing to a threat.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also resurrected the threat of nuclear war by putting his country’s nuclear deterrent on alert as a kind of “blackmail” against sanctions, according to Beatrice Fihn, head of the International Campaign to Abolish Russia. Nuclear Weapons, NGO awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.

When asked about the censorship currently exercised by the Kremlin, for which several independent and international media have stopped reporting from Russia in recent weeks, he comments that the Western media have not been reporting the attacks that he claims the Ukrainian government has carried out. to the pro-Russian population of Donbas since 2014, but on several occasions the media has been seen reporting on this conflict between Kiev and the separatists and the result it has left: more than 14,000 deaths.

For the Russians it is also a fight against the Ukrainian nationalists, even saying that they have Nazi ideology. While from Ukraine Moscow is also accused of nationalism and a kind of colonialism.

Only the passing of weeks will tell the final outcome of this conflict, which for now continues with an uncertain duration, despite attempts at dialogue. Although Zelensky stressed last Saturday that Russia has adopted a “fundamentally different approach” and is no longer limited to “giving ultimatums”. Therefore, he feels “happy to receive a signal from Russia”, after Putin said that he saw “positive steps” in the latest bilateral negotiations. (I)