Seoul (TDI): Russian Ambassador to South Korea Georgy Zinoviev has said that Russia wants peace, but it will fight as long as necessary to ensure its security and protect the rights of its people.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev expressed his views in the Korea Times on Thursday.
He heavily criticized the Western countries for “spreading disinformation” through the media and hindering the peace settlement in the Russia-Ukraine war.
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Ambassador Zinoviev said, “On the three-year anniversary of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, there will undoubtedly be another round of the disinformation campaign against my country.”
He said that Western countries have the desire to inflict “strategic defeat on Russia.”
They have deliberately undermined Russia’s security interest by expanding NATO’s military infrastructure and supporting the “unconstitutional coup of 2014” which brought into power ultra-radical forces, he added.
📰Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Korea
Georgy Zinoviev’s article in «The Korea Times»The key causes of the crisis, in fact, stem from the West continuously and deliberately ignoring Russia’s security interests, the expansion of NATO military… pic.twitter.com/13Rze1UUiK
— Russian Embassy in Seoul 🇷🇺🇰🇷 (@RusEmb_Korea) February 27, 2025
Russia tried to reach a peaceful resolution. However, those efforts were constantly sabotaged, he said.
For example, in February 2014, Ukrainian leaders and the opposition tried to reach a settlement, which was sabotaged by the Western-backed activists, who seized power in an unconstitutional coup, the envoy maintained.
Similarly, the Minsk Agreements, which were also supported by the United National Security Council Resolution 2202, are now being exploited by the same Western countries, to “pump Ukraine with arms,” Zinoviev said.
Labeling the Ukraine’s government as “Neo-Nazi,” he said that they do not represent the people of Crimea and Donbas region.
The Ambassador said that Russian action of protecting its population in the said regions is in fact in line with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
He further stated that the Western countries who tried to “isolate our country politically, destroy it economically and cancel it culturally” have themselves actively participated in the military interventions in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria.
“The Western countries still adhere to the Zelenskyy Peace Formula.”
This formula stresses the return of Ukraine to its 1991 borders, obligates Russia to pay reparations, and demands Russia’s leadership to stand trial before some international tribunal.
In this situation, the ongoing Russia-US talks give hope for a more “rational approach,” he said.
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To achieve lasting peace, he said, “it is essential to root out the causes of the conflict. Russia is willing to come to an agreement in accordance with the proposals presented by President Vladimir Putin on June 14, 2024.”
Moreover, Ambassador Zinoviev said that in April 2022, Russia and Ukraine began the negotiation process in Istanbul, which was disrupted due to the instigation of the Western countries.
Talking about the future peace settlements between Russia and Ukraine, he said, “Obviously, we now have to take into account the fact that the situation on the ground has changed.”
