Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov complained about alleged "threats" to Russia from the West. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a briefing on July 16 that Russia sees a threat in the fact that democracy is functioning on its borders. This was reported by UNN.
According to Russian media, during a meeting of the UN Security Council on July 16, Lavrov called for "eliminating the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, the settlement of which should include the removal of threats against Russia emanating from the West.
Lavrov also recalled the "conditions for establishing a sustainable peace in Ukraine, which were proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin". In addition, he said that the US administration "is wrong about a new global war in which not only European countries but also the United States will suffer.
For his part, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that there is no one in Europe who would threaten Russia.
There is no one in Europe who threatened Russia before the invasion of Ukraine - either the invasion of Ukraine in 2014 or the full-scale invasion in 2022. russia seems to see a threat in the fact that democracy is functioning on its borders. And this is simply not a valid point of view. There was no military threat. No one threatened to seize Russian territory, to seize Russian land
According to him, Washington will continue to work with Ukrainian partners on how diplomacy can lead to a final end to the war "with a just peace - not just a peace, but a just and lasting peace.
“We believe that Ukraine should be at the forefront of any diplomacy aimed at ending the war, because it is a victim of this aggression. It is their territory that is occupied. It is their people who have been killed and continue to suffer as a result of a war that they did not start, but from which they have been suffering, and, in fact, have been suffering for 10 years. Of course, this is not just a war that started in February 2022. So it's important that Ukraine determines its own future, and we will support it in any way we can,” Miller added.