Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that the country is not trying to take territory from other countries, and noted that Donbass is part of Ukraine. He said this on the air of the CBS television channel, the quote leads TASS.
“There is no invasion. And there are no such plans. (…) We are not trying to take over any territory of any country. I would like to confirm that Donbass and Luhansk are part of Ukraine,” Antonov said.
He stressed that the issue of the situation in Ukraine is not a key issue now. According to Antonov, it is important whether countries can develop firm security guarantees for all.
“We want everything to be on paper. We want to see legally binding guarantees of Russian security. (…) We do not want to see the next wave of NATO expansion,” the diplomat said.
The situation in Donbass escalated the day before, on February 17. Kiev and the unrecognized Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics accuse each other of repeated ceasefire violations and shelling of settlements. Against the background of the aggravation of the situation, a mass evacuation of Donbas residents to Russia was announced.
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