'We are at the start of a difficult 10 years': Russian Ambassador to UK warns of global insecurity ahead

22 February 2023, 18:38

The Russian Ambassador to the UK has told Andrew Marr that "we are at the start of a difficult 10 years" of global insecurity as the first anniversary of the conflict in Ukraine nears.

Speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr on LBC, Andrei Kelin repeated Russia's claim that the conflict with Ukraine was not a war and was in fact a "special operation" and revealed he felt "badly" for the civilian deaths in Ukraine.

In the wide-ranging interview, the diplomat also discussed Russia’s suspension of the New START Treaty with the United States and commented on the UK providing Ukraine with long range weapons.

Asked for his perspective on how long the current global insecurity will continue, Mr Kelin replied:

"We are at the start of a difficult 10 years of course, because a lot of things are changing right now in the market, in the economy, in the correlation of forces in the places of different states… There are 10 years of serious changes in the world order."

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Mr Kelin repeated Moscow's claim that the invasion is not a war of conquest and is in fact a "special operation" telling Marr:

"No, this is not a war of conquest. It is not a war, first of all, this is a special operation, in which we are trying to defend Russians and the Russian speaking as I have said already."

According to latest data from the UN human rights office (OHCHR), at least 8,000 non-combatants have been confirmed killed since the start of the invasion.

UK's Russian Ambassador says Russia-Ukraine conflict is the start of a 'ten-year' global struggle.

OHCHR staff have repeated on many occasions that true figure is likely to be substantially higher.

Asked how he feels about civilian deaths in Ukraine including over 450 children, the Ambassador said: "Badly. But I can tell you that also in accordance with the United Nations calculation, after 2014, and this coup d’état in Kyiv, 12,000 civilians have been killed, with Ukrainian forces standing just in front of them."

Discussing the military casualties from the war, the Ambassador said: "I do not go into the speculation on how many soldiers who have been lost. But most of the experts agree that we are losing one soldier to seven or eight Ukrainians."

In his state of the union address on Tuesday, Putin accused Ukraine and the West of starting the war, and announced that he was pulling his country out of the major arms control agreement.

Speaking at summit with leaders from nations on the eastern edge of the NATO alliance, US President Joe Biden said those present knew "better than anyone" what's at stake in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia almost a year ago.

Mr Kelin said Russia had suspended its participation in the treaty, rather than withdrawn from it.

"What we're seeing right now is that the United States, as a part of the treaty, is becoming more and more adversarial", he said, "its policy line is a strategic defeat of Russia... and also it has been joined by France and Britain... By the way, the UK is increasing its nuclear arsenal by 40%...

"We're suspending our participation in this treaty, which basically means that we are suspending the verification procedures... However, we are responsible participants, and the limits on the nuclear warhead will remain, we will stick to the limits that has been inscribed in the treaty."

He said Russia "will continue the exchange about the launches of missiles. So, the main part of the border of the treaty will remain", adding that the suspension was "reversible".

At the Munich Security Conference on Monday, Rishi Sunak said that the UK will provide "longer range weapons" to Ukraine.

But the Ambassador said the move is "most dangerous", telling Marr: "NATO countries are going deeper and deeper into the conflict, especially the UK as a leading European country, in this aspect... The long-range weapons are the most dangerous here.

"The longer the range of this weapon will be, the further that we will have to push this line in Ukraine. Because we need to safeguard Crimea, and the main part of Russia.

"So, if the UK provides long range weapons, we will need then to push this line further into Ukraine, just to secure ourselves."

Asked if Russia would use nuclear weapons in this conflict, Mr Kelin replied:

"In this conflict? No, we have a very clear doctrine, and it is describing a very precise case when a nuclear weapon can be used.

"It is if nuclear attack is launched against Russia for the first time, and if a conventional attack will be so grave that existence of our state is in danger."