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Russian Foreign Minister says West will “get over” Ukrainian invasion

The Russian Foreign Minister has shrugged off the near-unanimous condemnation of Putin’s invasion.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called international condemnation of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine “hysteria”.

After the United Nations General Assembly passed a historic, unanimous vote condemning the Ukrainian invasion, Lavrov stated that the NATO allies will “get over” it.

Credit: Dmitry Serebryakov

Concerning the vote, 141 of 193 members voted in favour of condemning Russia – North Korea, Syria, Eritrea and Belarus (who have joined in supporting the Russian conflict) voted against the condemnation of Moscow’s aggression, with 35 nations, including China and India, abstained from the vote.

Despite an eruption of anti-war protests where over 6,800 Russian civilians have been arrested and dissent from Russian elites calling for an end to all military conflict, the Russian Foreign Minister commented, “I am sure that this hysteria will fade say and our Western partners will get over it”.

Historically, Lavrov may be right to doubt the impact of economic sanctions to change the course of Russia’s military actions.

But Lavrov’s comments only reflect a disregard for Russian civilians, who will undoubtedly bear the brunt of Russia’s economic isolation, as the rouble has dipped 40% and interest rates have increased by 20%.

Lavrov, who seems to exist in another reality, has labelled the sanctions, “some kind of tax on independence”.

“If they expect… Russia to crawl under the bench and give in to someone’s dictatorship, their expectations are wrong. In fact, they should remember our history, we have never made agreements under pressure.”

Lavrov’s confident stance will likely come at the behest of Russian civilians, as Russians have crowded ATMs in last-minute attempts to withdraw their money.

Historically, in Cuba, U.S. sanctions stifled economic growth and greatly widened the poverty gap, while sanctions on Iraq doubled infant mortality rates. Sanctions could also increase the probability of infectious diseases as food and energy prices surge.

“It’s clear to everyone that World War III can only be a nuclear one. However, I would like to point out that thoughts of a nuclear war are circling in the heads of Western politicians but not in the heads of Russians,” Lavrov commented, despite recent news that Putin had placed nuclear weapons on high alert.

Lavrov’s comments reflect conflicting viewpoints within the Russian government, which was acknowledged by U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday in his State of the Union address to Congress.

“Russia’s Vladimir Putin sought to shake the foundations of the free world thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways. But he badly miscalculated”, Biden commented.

 “He thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead, he met a wall of strength he never imagined… He met the Ukrainian people”.

Sadly, Russian civilians will also be victims of Putin’s acts of war.