Kiev’s ambassador in London to Asharq Al-Awsat: We are facing Russia on 5 fronts

Ukrainian Ambassador to London Vadim Prystaiko said that Russian forces are surrounding his country from five fronts, and that large-scale military exercises supervised by Russian President Vladimir Putin, yesterday (Saturday), are directed to the West.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Prystaiko stressed that Russia is trying to threaten the West to accept certain concessions by “blackmailing” his country. “Some of these concessions are unreasonable, unjustified and unrealistic, such as demanding that NATO return to its shape in 1997, and stripping newly joined members of the means to defend themselves,” he said.

In addition, Prystaiko, who held the position of Foreign Minister until 2020, considered that Russia has been trying to create a pretext to justify military intervention “systematically” for years, recalling the scenario of annexing the Crimea in 2014.