Russia has today issued a loaded response to the news that the EU commission had given the green light for Ukraine to be considered as a full member of the union.
The Irish Times reports that in a statement from the Kremlin, Russia said that it “was closely following Ukraine’s efforts to become a member of the EU, especially in the light of increased defence co-operation within the EU.”
A spokesperson for the Kremlin went on to state that the issue “requires our heightened attention, because we are all aware of the intensification of discussions in Europe on the subject of strengthening the defence component of the EU”.
It comes as EU members France, Germany and Italy all have endorsed Ukraine’s bid to become part of the bloc. French president Emmanuel Macron said all four EU leaders supported the idea of granting an “immediate” EU candidate status to Ukraine while on a visit to Kviv on Thursday
Meanwhile Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday defiantly remarked to British media that Russia is “not ashamed of showing who we are”
“We didn’t invade Ukraine, we declared a special military operation because we had absolutely no other way of explaining to the West that dragging Ukraine into NATO was a criminal act,” Mr Lavrov told the BBC.
“Russia is not squeaky clean. Russia is what it is. And we are not ashamed of showing who we are,” Mr Lavrov said.
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