Europe

Russia to react if interests attacked in Ukraine: Russia

Russia to react if interests attacked in Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that Russia will respond if Moscow’s interests are attacked in Ukraine as it did in Georgia six years ago.

Lavrov’s warning came on Wednesday, recalling the 2008 war with Georgia over South Ossetia.

“If we are attacked, we would certainly respond. If our interests, our legitimate interests, the interests of Russians have been attacked directly, like they were in South Ossetia, for example, I do not see any other way but to respond in accordance with international law,” Lavrov added.

The warning is the clearest hint at a possible military action and comes as 600 US troops are heading to the region in a show of force.

This is while the interim government in Kiev has ordered a new “anti-terrorist” operation in the eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian protests are on the rise.

Kiev’s offensive can deal the final blow to the already tattered Geneva accord signed last week to defuse tensions.

On April 17, Kiev’s interim government together with the United States, Russia and the European Union reached an agreement in the Swiss city of Geneva, calling for all sides to ease the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine, where anti-Kiev protesters keep occupying state buildings in several towns and cities.

Pro-Russian demonstrators have so far refused to recognize the Geneva accord, with their leaders renewing calls for local referendums on independence.

Tensions between Western powers and Moscow heightened after the Crimean territory declared independence from Ukraine and formally applied to become part of Russia following a referendum on March 16, in which almost 97 percent of the participants voted for rejoining the Russian Federation, with a turnout of over 83 percent.

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