Russia vows to destroy weapons sent to Ukraine by Western states

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - Russia vowed to destroy weapons that are being sent to Ukraine amid reports of US planning to transfer Patriot air defense systems from Israel to Ukraine.

Asked about reports of the US administration's talks with Israel and Ukraine about transferring aging Patriots to Ukraine, Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said: "We are discouraging all countries that have not yet done so from providing arms for Ukraine."

"The destiny of the weapons that will be eventually exported to Ukraine from wherever is clear. They will be destroyed as the other weapons that the West and the US are supplying Ukraine with," he said at a news conference after Russia took over the one-month presidency of the Security Council.

Asked about former US President Donald Trump's recent remarks on ending the Ukraine war in a day if he is re-elected, Nebenzia said they have heard these claims before. "The Ukrainian crisis cannot be resolved in one day," he added.

Noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin had presented a solution on June 14, Nebenzia mentioned that Putin said the situation on the ground had changed and that this should be taken into account.

Putin on June 14 had called on Ukraine to withdraw its troops from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, agree with Russia's territorial gains made in the "special military operation" launched in February 2022, and confirm its neutral status. He also demanded the cancellation of all anti-Russian sanctions by the West.

On the deepening divide between Russia, China, North Korea and European countries and the West, the Russian envoy said: "Europeans, you call them allies, I will call them minions."

He said that these countries refuse to acknowledge the emergence of new power centers and that "they are trying to retain the dominance that they enjoyed the last 500 years."

Saying that many countries want to become more prominent in world politics, Nebenzia said this is reflected in the Security Council reform process.

At the beginning of the news conference, Nebenzia said the situation in Palestine "will remain spotlighted" during their term presidency.

He also announced that there would be three "signature events" to be chaired by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The first is a ministerial-level debate on the maintenance of international peace and security, the second a high-level session on the cooperation between the UN and regional organizations and the third an open debate on Middle East.