Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasili Nebenzia, declared on Friday that Ukraine has become a private military company owned by NATO, ready to fulfill all its tasks.
At a Security Council meeting, Nebenzia commented that kyiv “contrary to facts and common sense” has deluded itself that thanks to NATO military aid it will be able to defeat Russia on the battlefield.
“As a result of this, Ukraine has essentially become a private NATO military company. You are paid money, provided with weapons and information, told where to shoot and where to attack,” the Russian diplomat said, noting that “the Ukrainian people suffer because they are forced to fight for other people’s goals”.
Similarly, Nebenzia highlighted the persecution that the kyiv authorities have launched against dissidents and opposition leaders, complemented by the “desire to destroy” the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. “With the complicity of the collective West, the Zelensky regime has become an authoritarian dictatorship,” he said.
Likewise, the Russian diplomat regretted that Ukraine did not resume the Minsk Agreements, to end hostilities in the Donbass. “Minsk was nothing more than a screen behind which Western countries were secretly arming Ukraine against Russia,” he said, citing recent revelations by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Francois Hollande.
“We are fulfilling NATO’s mission”
For his part, Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov said last week that the West must continue to send its weapons to Ukraine because kyiv is defending the civilized world against Russia. “We are fulfilling NATO’s mission without spilling their blood, shedding our blood, so they must spend their weapons,” he declared.
The military aid allocated to Ukraine by Western countries since the start of the conflict with Russia in February 2022 already exceeds 40 billion dollars, and about half comes from the United States, according to data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy ( Germany). The figure does not include economic and humanitarian assistance, provided in parallel by the West to the Slavic country.