Moscow recognizes Ukraine’s independence but not the “Nazi” regime in Kiev bent on the “extermination of everything Russian,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
In an interview with Hungarian YouTube channel Ultrahang aired on Sunday, the top diplomat said today’s Ukraine differs greatly from the one whose sovereignty Moscow supported after the fall of the USSR.
“We recognize the independence of Ukraine, no doubt about this, [but] we recognized Ukraine on the basis of its own Declaration of Independence and Constitution… which defined Ukraine as a non-nuclear, neutral, non-bloc country guaranteeing the rights of all national minorities,” Lavrov said.
He stated that following the 2014 Maidan coup, Ukraine turned into “a bluntly Nazi regime” that “shows open contempt for anything Russian,” including its history, media, culture, religion, education, and language.
Hellbound and Down 