Kyiv's ethnic cleansing, along with its bid to join the US-led NATO military alliance, had been among the driving factors that prompted Russia to start its special operation to demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine, said Moscow's envoy to Washington in an interview for Newsweek.
"The special operation in Ukraine is the result of the unwillingness of Kyiv to stop the genocide of Russians by fulfilling its obligations under the international commitments. The desire of the NATO member states to use the territory of a neighboring state to establish a foothold in the struggle against Russia is also obvious," stated Antonov, according to SPUTNIK.
Weighing in on the Russia's operation, the envoy stated, "Its aim is to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine in order to reduce military threats posed by the Western states that are trying to use the fraternal Ukrainian people in the struggle against the Russians."
Antonov emphasized that the events that began on 24 February had roots that dated back eight years when the Euromaidan uprising of 2014 – a "bloody coup d'état instigated by the West" - toppled the lawfully-elected Ukrainian government and "ultranationalist ideas came to power in Kyiv."
According to Antonov, the "nationalist frenzy and revanchist sentiments of the Kyiv regime" resulted in the effective death of the Minsk deals. As a result, Ukraine opted to follow "the path of rapid militarization" with help funneled from abroad.
While violating the ceasefire, the Ukrainian government also refused to honour the political portion of the Minsk Agreements, turning the conflict into a frozen civil war.
"The NATO member countries have commenced a military exploration of Ukraine… It was flooded with Western weaponry while President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Kyiv's plans to acquire nuclear weapons which would threaten not only neighboring countries but also the entire world," stated the Russian diplomat.
ZZ/PR