Moscow said Thursday that the West wants to prolong the war in Ukraine.
“Despite casualties and destruction, Western countries openly declared that they want to prolong the war to deplete and weaken us,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine.
“Moscow will not allow Ukraine to continue to be used as an anti-Russia springboard to create and implement threats against Russian national security,” he added.
Lavrov accused Kyiv of trying to erode Russian culture and language and argued that Ukraine turned into a totalitarian state.
He also accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant, noting it creates a risk of a nuclear catastrophe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial military mobilization Wednesday, calling up to 300,000 reservists for probable deployment to Ukraine and underlined that Moscow will use all means to defend the country.
Ukraine’s self-declared republics of Luhansk and Donetsk, along with Russian-controlled parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, will hold referendums on joining Russia from Sept. 23-27.
-AA