Ukraine has right to self-defense against Russian aggression – Lithuanian FM on Donbas situation

14:47, 24.10.2018 1 min read

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius has reminded the participants of the Warsaw Security Forum that the conflict in Donbas is aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and not some kind of internal Ukrainian conflict, as sometimes it is presented to the public.

"Those, who are trying to present the conflict in Donbas as a "conflict within Ukraine," are wrong. This is the Russian aggression against Ukraine. And they [Ukrainians] are fighting external aggression," he said, speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum on Wednesday.

The minister added that during a visit to the contact line in the east of Ukraine, he personally had the opportunity to make sure that Ukrainians in Donbas are still undergoing aggression.

"A peaceful agreement sounds good, but if you see a peaceful solution in the destruction of the Ukrainian army, I am sure that this is not what we would like to see. Of course, confrontation is not good, but we are talking about the state's right to self-defense," he said.