Lavrov: Russia will attack any military cargo going into Ukraine
The Russian army will attack any military cargo that will be delivered to the territory of Ukraine, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with the Russian VT channel RT.
"We have made it very clear that any cargo that will enter the territory of Ukraine and which, we will assume, transport weapons, will become a legitimate target. This is completely understandable," the Foreign Minister said.
At the same time, Lavrov especially warned NATO countries against supplying Ukraine with S-300 missile systems developed during the Soviet era. The Russian Foreign Minister stressed that countries such as, for example, Slovakia, which openly declare their readiness to do this, do not have the right to do so. According to him, according to Soviet treaties, they cannot transfer weapons to third countries.
"This is a completely legitimate demand," Lavrov stressed.
NATO countries began supplying weapons to Ukraine even before the war began, when information about the upcoming invasion started appearing in the media. To date, military cargoes are delivered to Ukraine from the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Spain and other countries of the alliance. Logistics centers for the delivery of weapons are located in Poland.
The threat that Russia intends to attack convoys with Western weapons has previously been voiced by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. Then, his words were addressed to US President Joe Biden, who the day before announced that Washington was supplying weapons to Ukraine, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.
"We warned the United States that the orchestrated pumping of Ukraine with weapons from a number of countries is not just a dangerous move, but an action that turns the relevant convoys into legitimate targets. We warned about the consequences that the thoughtless transfer to Ukraine of such types of weapons as portable anti-aircraft missile systems, anti-tank missile systems and so on could have," Ryabkov said at the time.
In response, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned that an attack by the Russian army on the supply lines of allied countries supporting Kyiv with ammunition and weapons would lead to a dangerous escalation of the war.
The war in Ukraine began on February 24 after the Russian army invaded the country on the orders of President Vladimir Putin. Moscow insists that the invasion is a "special military operation" to save residents of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics "from genocide." However, despite these statements, the Russian military continues to shell cities and towns outside these areas.