The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has set the "complete restoration" of the rights of the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine as an essential requirement to reach any lasting understanding on the conflict.
"We are going to achieve the complete restoration of the rights of Russians and Russian speakers against whom the neo-Nazi regime of Kiev has unleashed manifest terror," Lavrov stated in a message disseminated this Saturday on the occasion of Russian Language Day.
According to the head of Russian diplomacy, "resolving this issue is a necessary condition for a long-term agreement that resolves the Ukrainian conflict."
In the same vein, he stressed that "we will continue to oppose manifestations of linguistic discrimination and Russophobia, wherever they occur."
Lavrov emphasized that the Russian language constitutes a "cultural, spiritual, and historical" pillar of the Russian "nation-civilization" and that, moreover, it acts as a tool for international communication, as well as a "unifier" within the framework of the Russian Language Organization.