Ukrainian Foreign Minister speaks of Russia's "collapse" and defends right to attack
Created: 09/12/2022, 16:51
By: Kathrin Reikowski
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Phnom Penh.
© Vincent Thian/AP/dpa
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba defends Ukraine's right to attack Russian territory.
Peace negotiations are not in sight.
Kyiv (Ukraine) - "I call on the world not to be afraid of Russia falling apart," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in Kyiv.
"When the wheels of history start turning, no one will be able to stop them."
"Instead of thinking about how to help Russia survive and become a normal member of the international community, it is time to accept that this Russia cannot become a normal member of the international community," he said.
Foreign Minister of Ukraine: "The people of Russia will break up the empire"
"I don't think the world will fall apart if Russia falls apart," Kuleba said.
He supports his thesis that Russia's large territory could split into several independent parts with a historical comparison.
"The Russian people will break up the country themselves," said Kuleba, "just as happened with the Russian Empire before." He was alluding to the 1917 Russian Revolution.
The foreign minister spoke in similarly grand terms on another subject.
Two Russian military airports inside Russia were attacked last week.
Ukraine has not yet publicly claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Kuleba did not do this either in an interview with the
Wall Street Journal
- but made general comments about attacks on Russia by Ukraine.
Kuleba defends Ukraine's right to attack on Russia's territory
“We are first concentrating on attacking targets in the occupied territories inside Ukraine, liberating our own territory.
But of course: the idea that Russia can do everything in Ukraine that it is technically capable of doing, while Ukraine does not have the same right - it is conceptually, morally and militarily wrong," Kuleba said.
"Ukraine should not be endlessly harassed," Kuleba said.
"We are a country fighting on all fronts for its survival, for its territorial integrity." And he added: "The most important thing is that nobody judges the behavior of Ukraine from the perspective that Russia can do everything while the Ukraine must not cross some red lines in self-defense - as long as Ukraine abides by international martial law.” Russia's war against Ukraine has been ongoing since February 2022.
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