The key facts

  • Sergey Lavrov stated that in December 2021, with Western support, a “powerful forceful suppression” of the DNR and LNR was being prepared
  • The minister called this Moscow’s most recent attempt to prevent an escalation
  • He also recalled the DNR and LNR leaders’ appeal to Russia with a request for protection

Statement at the forum in Moscow

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke at the International Forum on Ensuring Collective Security in Moscow and stated that in December 2021 Kyiv, with the support of its Western allies, was preparing a forceful suppression of Donbas. “We knew for certain that, with the support of the West, a powerful forceful suppression of Donbas — the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics — was being seriously prepared,” his words were quoted as saying by Gazeta.Ru, citing TASS.

The essence of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s position

According to the minister, Moscow had information about the impending offensive and tried to prevent events from unfolding along a military scenario. He called December 2021 the most recent such attempt. Lavrov stressed that the Russian leadership could not allow this scenario to be realized, especially since the leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics had turned to Russia with a request for protection. He also referred to President Vladimir Putin’s repeated explanations of the reasons for the start of the special military operation. Life.ru reports the same, noting that, in the minister’s assessment, Moscow was trying to prevent the “inevitable.”

Context of previous statements

The statement came against the backdrop of Lavrov’s recent public remarks about the conflict. In early November he said that the war unleashed by Western countries through Ukraine against Russia had “put an end to Euro-Atlanticism” as a possibility of uniting everyone. Earlier, he also formulated Russia’s priority in the conflict. Separately, Life.ru relayed the minister’s words that Russia harbors no illusions about Donald Trump’s administration, but supported the US proposal to begin talks in Abu Dhabi with a discussion of collective security issues; according to him, security guarantees should enter into force after a comprehensive agreement on Ukraine is reached.