Moscow - By imposing an economic blockade on the southeastern part of Ukraine, the Kyiv authorities may be seeking to lay the groundwork for another military invasion, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
“There is a supposition that this decree [by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko] is actually aimed not only and not so much at strangling this region economically and socially as at laying the groundwork for another military invasion and another attempt to resolve this problem by force,” Lavrov said during a regular ‘government hour’ hearing at the State Duma on Nov. 19.
Lavrov described the Ukrainian presidential decree on the economic blockade of southeastern Ukraine as a tragedy. “What is much sadder in itself is the decision to deprive pensioners of their pensions and those entitled to social allowances of these allowances. This makes it a tragedy for these people and further worsens their already hard condition,” Lavrov said.
