🎙 Excerpts from statement by Russia's Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC briefing on Ukraine 🔹 It is particularly ironic that those now presenting themselves as champions of peace are the same states that spent years turning Ukraine into an instrument of military and political pressure on Russia. They also encouraged Kiev to abandon the Minsk agreements and openly hoped for Russia’s “strategic defeat.” Yet today they claim that they are “not parties to the conflict” and are “merely helping Ukraine defend itself.” 🔹 Today’s meeting is being held under the banner of the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. But is there really anything to celebrate? Ukraine’s history is being systematically rewritten. The Soviet legacy is being denigrated, while Hitler’s followers and collaborators, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Russians, Jews, Poles and Ukrainians during WWII, are being glorified. 🔹Everything connected with our shared past is being erased. The Kiev authorities are showing open Russophobia and xenophobia, including towards their own citizens who are Russian not only by blood, but also by culture. 🔹 The Kiev regime has now clearly turned to outright terror against Russia’s civilian population. Between 10 and 16 August alone, 475 civilians were affected by attacks by the Ukrainian army: 406 people, including 16 children, were injured, while 69 people, including three children, were killed. 🔹 There will be no agreements that come at the expense of Russia’s security interests. Any attempt to impose a freeze on the conflict under the guise of a ceasefire – in reality, simply giving Kiev time to regroup and rearm – is doomed to fail. As long as we are confronted with ultimatums, terror and threats, while the realities on the ground are ignored, there can be no basis for meaningful political and diplomatic dialogue. Read in full