Russia accused the US of taking hostile steps as it expelled 12 diplomats citing that these envoys were engaging in espionage activities.
“The US authorities have undertaken another hostile action against the Russian Mission to the United Nations, grossly violating their commitments on the Host Country Agreement that they undertook, telling us that they’re announcing 12 people from the personnel of the Russian Mission personae non gratae, and demanding that they leave by March 7,” Russian envoy to the US Vasily Nebenzia said.
The action comes amid the war in Ukraine and as Russian forces fight the Ukrainian army to wrest control of Kyiv. The United States in response said that these Russian envoys were participating in acts which were unbecoming of envoys and alleged that they were engaging in espionage activities.
The Russian envoy also said that the Russia would stop its military invasion once Ukraine shows readiness to kick out Nazi elements from its government and lays down its arms. “The occupation of Ukraine is not part of our plans. The purpose of this special operation is to protect people in the Donbass who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years,” Nebenzia was quoted as saying by Sputnik News.
Nebenzia also said that news reports of Russians bombing civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities of Ukraine should be verified and said that those reports could be fake.
“The reports … may not be credible at all. We have regular briefings by our Ministry of Defence which maintains that we are not targeting civilian objects in Ukraine nor the cities as such. So these reports about bombing of Kharkov or explosions in Kiev should be verified,” Nebenzia was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Sputnik.
“We saw some footage of buildings partly destroyed. But it was then said and confirmed by our military that it was not our missiles, but either a plane of Ukraine or a … missile that went into that building. We didn’t bomb residential areas of Kiev,” he further added.
Nebenzia also said that Zelensky was a weak leader who could not stop the rise of the radicals in Ukraine. “Zelensky has demonstrated that he is weak, that he does not have the political will and strength to resist those radicals who are the main political force in today’s Ukraine,” Nebenzia said.
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