Lavrov: We have no intention of destroying the Ukrainian people

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia does not intend to destroy the Ukrainian people, they are brothers and sisters for Russians, RIA Novosti reports.

"We are not talking about exterminating anyone's population. We did not start this war. For many years, we have warned that NATO's approach to our borders would create a problem. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been explaining this for years on international platforms to people who dreamed of the "end of history" and their "domination," the minister said in an interview with journalist Tucker Carlson.

"We have no intention of destroying the Ukrainian people. They are brothers and sisters to the Russian people," Lavrov emphasized.

When the coup d'etat took place in Ukraine, the United States did not hide that it was behind it, he pointed out.

"There is a recording of a conversation between then-Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and then-US Ambassador to Kiev Geoffrey Pyatt, when they discuss people who will be included in the new government after the coup d'etat. The figure of $5 billion spent on Ukraine after independence was announced as a guarantee that everything will be as the Americans want," the minister recalled.

Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. President Vladimir Putin called its goal "the protection of people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." To do this, according to him, it is planned to carry out "demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine," and bring to justice all war criminals responsible for "bloody crimes against civilians" in Donbass.