Senator Kosachev announced the right of Moscow to use the army when attacking Russians abroad
Photo: Sergey Pivovarov / RIA Novosti
Russia does not plan to be the first to attack Ukraine, but our country has the right to use the army to protect its citizens abroad in the event that they are threatened with an attack. Konstantin Kosachev, vice-speaker of the Federation Council, told Interfax about this.
He recalled that after the conflict in South Ossetia in 2008, amendments were made to the federal law “On Defense”, making it possible to quickly use the RF Armed Forces abroad.
The senator added that “Russia has never attacked anyone first,” but he is concerned about the situation in which Ukraine may try to forcefully resolve the problems in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“Ukraine is being pushed to try to solve the problems of the South-East by military means,” Kosachev said. “Moreover, the provocateurs both inside and outside Ukraine understand exactly what will happen in this case.
Earlier, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko also spoke about Moscow's lack of plans to attack Ukraine. According to her, neither the country's leadership, nor 80 percent of Russians who consider Ukrainians a fraternal people, see this as meaningless.
On Sunday, December 26, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow has no plans to invade Ukraine. He stressed that our country does not start armed conflicts on its own.
