Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday gave a stern warning to NATO forces amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
According to Russian state-owned news agency TASS, Lavrov made the remarks while speaking to students and staff at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in response to a “peace mission” proposed by Poland.
“Our Polish colleagues have already stated that there will be a NATO summit now, we need to send peacekeepers. I hope they understand what is at stake,” Lavrov said. “This will be the direct clash between the Russian and NATO armed forces that everyone has not only tried to avoid but said should not take place in principle.”
Imagine taking a time machine to 2002 and telling people that in 20 years Vladimir Putin would be sending Chechens to wage war in Ukraine in the name of protecting Russian speakers pic.twitter.com/uCu3DT6KfH
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) March 21, 2022
This comes after Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of Poland’s ruling party, called for NATO peacekeepers to provide humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, as well as imposing harsh financial sanctions on Russia.
“I think that it is necessary to have a peace mission – NATO, possibly some wider international structure—but a mission that will be able to defend itself, which will operate on Ukrainian territory,” said Kaczyński. “It will be a mission that will strive for peace, to give humanitarian aid, but at the same time it will also be protected by appropriate forces, armed forces.”
Since Russia launched its full-scale military operation in Ukraine last month, over 400 schools, 110 hospitals, and 1,000 residential blocks across Ukraine have been destroyed, according to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.
“We will win. It’s a question only of the price which the Ukrainian people will pay,” Reznikov said. “The Russians can be stopped, victory can be gained, but we need assistance.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently pleaded to President Joe Biden for additional aid from the West.
“You are the leader of the nation, of your great nation,” Zelenskyy said in a video address. “I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.”
The Biden administration already authorized the release of $350 million of military assistance to Ukraine last month and Congress recently reached a deal last week for another $13.6 billion in humanitarian and defense assistance.
