Moscow’s envoy to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia said to General Assembly during the special session issued to denounce the invasion of Ukraine held on Monday, that Russia has no intentions to invade Ukraine.
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The Russian envoy stated that his country seeks to save lives in the Donbass. He noted Moscow's intentions for punishing those responsible for eight years of genocide and atrocities. “Occupation of Ukraine is not part of our plans. The purpose of this special operation is to protect people, who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for the past eight years. This is why it’s necessary to demilitarize and de-nazify Ukraine,” said Nebenzia.
Citing as an example of “ghastly crimes” committed by the government in Kiev, the Russian official remarked the murdered people protesting the U.S.-backed coup in Kiev, where 40 people were burned alive in a building in Odessa, demanding anyone who committed such atrocities to be brought to justice, “including Russian citizens.”
He added that Russia's government has acted to defend itself from a “regime” that “aspires to gain access to nuclear weapons,” highlighting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's statement at the Munich Security Conference on February 18. According to Nebenzia, to prevent another world war is the main objective the military operation is actually ensuring, rather than violating the underlying principles of the UN.
He underlined if NATO would deploy military forces in Ukraine, Russia would have been forced to take actions that would have ended Moscow and the North Atlantic Alliance “on the brink of conflict.” The Ukrainian part and its Western backers accused Russia of alleging unprovoked aggression and denied the accusations of genocide and atrocities in the two breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk.
“Everyone knows that Russia and Russia alone started this invasion,” said Sergiy Kyslytsya, Kiev’s ambassador to the UN.