"Our stance has been clearly defined by the Russian leader: we, on our part, will do everything to prevent a war with Ukraine, to make sure that it never starts - not today, not tomorrow, not the day after tomorrow," the speaker of the Russian parliament’s upper house said in an interview with Russia’s Parlamentskaya Gazeta, TASS reported.
"The very thought of a war is a total absurdity for us," she said, adding that Russia and Ukraine share centuries of common history. "Of course, our nations are not living through the best of times in relations, to put it mildly. Nevertheless, I believe that any problem can be solved peacefully, through diplomatic means and political ways."
Matviyenko is convinced that there have been no objective reasons to accuse Russia of aggressive plans.
"No wonder that the topic of the attack on Ukraine, which is being fanned by the West in past weeks, has no evidence to back it, there is nothing but theories," she went on.
According to the senator, certain powers in the United States and the West, in general, push Ukraine to war with Russia.
"Simultaneously, NATO has already started military development of the Ukrainian territory. Its armed forces are being pumped up with military equipment, ammunition, weaponry - including offensive ones. The above-mentioned forces hope to create hotbeds of instability near Russia’s borders. This strategy is nothing new to us," Matviyenko continued.
In this situation, it would be logical for Russia to "take measures aimed at boosting the security of its territory and citizens" and to "bring into play the entire scope of possible measures: political, diplomatic, military and informational," the speaker said. "And this is exactly what is being done now," she added.
Concerns over Moscow’s alleged preparations for an invasion into Ukraine have been increasingly voiced in the West and in Kiev recently. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these statements as an empty and groundless escalation of tension, emphasizing that Russia posed no threat to anyone. At the same time, the Kremlin press secretary did not rule out possible provocations to justify such claims and warned that the attempts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict by force would carry extremely serious consequences.
ZZ/PR
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