The comments from Kremlin envoy Vassily Nebenzia come as the anniversary of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine approaches (Photo: AP)

Russia’s envoy to the United Nations has accused the West of trying to destroy the country.

Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on Friday, Wassily Nebenzia said Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was necessary to defend his country’s identity and the security of its future.

Addressing Western diplomats, Nebenzia said: “We had no choice but to defend our country – to defend it against you, to defend our identity and our future.

“We have lost faith in you and cannot believe any promise you make – not in relation to NATO’s non-enlargement in the East, or your desire not to interfere in our internal affairs, or your determination to to make peace.

“You have shown that it is impossible to negotiate with you. You have shown how treacherous you are by creating a neo-Nazi, neo-nationalist swarm on our borders and then fueling it.”

The UN Security Council is the only forum where Russian diplomats regularly meet with Ukrainian officials and their Western backers.

Nebenzia’s comments come as the year approaches Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which killed some 200,000 soldiers on both sides, killed more than 7,000 civilians and displaced more than eight million Ukrainians.

He added that Western states have made no effort to suppress violence between the Ukrainian government and separatists in the eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk after the 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula, in accordance with the “Minsk Accords”. of France and Germany.

Nebenzia said: “You knew very well that the Minsk trial is just a pretext for you to arm the Kiev regime and prepare it for war against Russia in the name of your geopolitical interests.”

Nearly a year of war in Ukraine has resulted in the deaths of 200,000 soldiers, more than 7,000 civilian deaths and another eight million displaced Ukrainians (Photo: EPA)

In this U.S. Army image, U.S. soldiers from Battery A, 41st Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division conduct live-fire exercises with the M109 Paladins at Grafenwoehr Training Area, March 14, 2022. The first A- class of 635 Ukrainian fighters have completed five weeks of US advanced training in Germany on advanced combat skills and armored vehicles, including M109 Paladins, which will be critical in the upcoming spring offensive against the Russians, the Pentagon said on Friday, Feb. 12. 17, 2023. (Captain Patrick M. Connelly/US Army via AP)

“Russia continues to opt for death and destruction as the world cries out for just peace,” British Ambassador Barbara Woodward said (Photo: AP)

Western attitudes towards his country are characterized by a “deep Russophobia” and a “determination to destroy my country if possible with the help of others”.

The envoy added that the West has no desire to “build a European and Euro-Atlantic security system with Russia”. [because] for you, such a system can only be aimed at Russia”.

Ukrainian diplomats were quick to respond to Nebezia’s rhetoric, with Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya saying Russia has been proactive in failing to fulfill its obligations under the Minsk accords.

Kyslytsya said: “The truth is that Putin has proven once and for all that it is impossible to negotiate with him.

Russia’s consistent undermining and eventual assassination of the Minsk agreements makes this crystal clear.

“The dictator must give up and disappear into the past.”

Western officials offered a similar response, with British ambassador Barbara Woodward saying: “Russia lied when we warned of its intention to attack Ukraine.

“Russia planned war when we called for diplomacy and de-escalation, and Russia continues to choose death and destruction as the world cries out for just peace.”

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