The Russian Ambassador to Beirut Alexander Rudakov affirmed that Moscow is not at war with the people in Ukraine, but rather with the regime in Kiev which seized the country and exploited the Ukrainians to serve its interests, noting that Russia can’t do the same with innocent people.
In an exclusive interview with UNews News Agency on Friday, Rudakov pointed out that Russia is confronting the military aggression of Western countries collectively. In this context, he stressed that Moscow gives priority to preserving people’s lives, indicating that the strikes are directed exclusively at verified military targets or infrastructure facilities used to perform tactical military tasks.
On the military operations, the Russian ambassador noted that all or most of the territories of the republics of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia were liberated from the Neo-Nazis who seized power in Kiev, adding that life there is gradually returning to normal.
He reiterated that the objectives of the special operation in Ukraine, which Russia was forced to undertake, were to protect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to ensure the security of the Russian people, including in the liberated lands of Ukraine from what he described as “neo-Nazis”, as well as disarmament and destruction of Nazism in this country and the elimination of all other threats coming from this territory.
Rudakov also affirmed that all of these goals will be achieved.
Regarding the New START Agreement, and the Russian withdrawal from it, Rudakov considered that the US had systematically failed to fulfill its commitments under the Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction and Limitation Treaty (START 3).
Under these circumstances, Russia was forced to decide to suspend its participation in the START III treaty, the envoy clarified.
Solid Ties with China
The Russian ambassador to stressed, meanwhile, that the Russian-Chinese relations have reached, at the current stage, the highest level of strategic partnership in their history. This relationship is characterized by deep mutual trust, respect and willingness to preserve each other’s interests, he added.
Rudakov told UNews that China, along with Russia, is a member of the BRICS group, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization and other effective associations that embody the future of the emerging multipolar world.
He expected that the volume of trade exchange between the two states will exceed $200 billion by the end of this year.
Rudakov stressed that the strong ties of Russian-Chinese relations cannot be subject to any negative external influence.
“Moscow is well aware of the immoral methods that Washington is adopting by trying to persuade everyone on this planet to refuse to cooperate with Russia. However, in the case of China, this simply doesn’t work.”
He added that Moscow intends to build fruitful Russian-Chinese cooperation in various fields.
“We will continue to coordinate joint efforts to find solutions to the most important issues on the regional and international level.”
Sanctions Policy Failed
On the other hand, Rudakov acknowledged that sanctions against Russia cause some inconvenience, noting that Moscow is now able to deal with the issue.
“Western countries began to follow this anti-Russian policy since long time ago, but we were able to adapt to such circumstances. Now, more and more analysts, even Western analysts, admit that hopes for the collapse of the Russian economy were unfulfilled.”
The Russian ambassador emphasized that “as a result of our response measures to the sanctions, we were able to maintain a stable ruble exchange rate, and the Russian banking and financial system operates regularly.”
“Inflation in Russia is expected to drop to 5-7%, as the unemployment rate has fallen to a historic low, and external debt is shrinking. However, the import substitution program is succeeding, especially with regard to the technology industries,” Rudakov was quoted as saying by UNews.
Source: UNews (translated by Al-Manar English Website)
