US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his UAE counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, discussed the Ukrainian situation following the start of Russia’s military operation, the US Department of State said in a statement.
“Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan about Russia’s premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack against Ukraine and the importance of building a strong international response to support Ukrainian sovereignty through the UN Security Council,” the statement, published on Thursday, read.
In June 2021, the UAE was elected to serve on the United Nations Security Council for the 2022-2023 term.
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman held a telephone conversation with Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed El Khereiji to discuss the situation in Ukraine following the start of Russia’s military operation, the US Department of State has said.
“Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman spoke today with the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Waleed El Khereiji about the premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack against Ukraine by Russia’s military forces and the importance of building a strong international response to support Ukrainian sovereignty,” the statement read.
In the early hours of Thursday, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk requested assistance to defend themselves from attacks by the Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the operation was targeting the military infrastructure of Ukraine and the civilian population was not in danger. Moscow says it has no plans to occupy Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov blasted the EU and NATO and said that Western countries have completely sided with Ukraine in sabotaging and destroying the Minsk Agreements on the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Donbas.
“The West fully sided with the Kiev regime in its efforts to sabotage and completely destroy the Minsk Agreements. In recent weeks, NATO and the European Union have also been covering Kiev when it had finally decided to take over the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics (LPR and DPR) by force, announced that there was no alternative for Ukraine but to join NATO and threatened to acquire nuclear weapons,” Lavrov said at the meeting with the LPR and DPR senior diplomats.
Lavrov added that “Russia could not remain indifferent” to direct requests by the heads of the DPR and LPR to provide military assistance in the face of Ukrainian aggression.
- Via Sputnik News Agency
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