MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - Moscow will do everything to prevent a war with Ukraine but will protect Russian citizens living in Donbas should Kyiv choose to unleash an aggression against the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (the DPR and the LPR), Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said.
"The Russian head of state has made our stance clear: we will do everything to prevent a war with Ukraine either today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or ever," Matviyenko said in an interview with the newspaper Parlamentskaya Gazeta.
As to what Russia would do if Kyiv wages a war in Donbas, Matviyenko said, "Thousands of Russian citizens live in the unrecognized republics. Obviously, we will not abandon them and will see that no harm comes to them in case of the Ukrainian army's invasion. We will do everything necessary to protect them."
"Naturally, our response will be proportionate to the scale of aggression and the military-political situation," she said.
For Russia, "the very idea of war looks completely insane," Matviyenko said. She noted that Russian-Ukrainian relations had seen better days but she was certain that any problem could be solved peacefully with diplomatic and political methods.
"So, there are no objective reasons to accuse Russia of aggressive intentions. It is not surprising that the claims of a pending attack on Ukraine, which have been made in the West with particular intensity over the past weeks, are not supported with evidence. There are mere conjectures," Matviyenko said.
Certain forces in the United States and the West are trying to draw Ukraine into a war with Russia and are practically forcing Kyiv to do it by escalating international tensions, Matviyenko said. Meanwhile, NATO has begun military exploration of the Ukrainian territory. "Its army is being rapidly enhanced with military hardware, ammunition and weapons, including offensive systems. The aforesaid forces seek to create spots of instability along the Russian border," she said.
"As for the sentiment in Russian society, rest assured that no one in Russia wants a war either with Ukraine or with anyone else. The very idea of war with the Ukrainian people looks blasphemous to the elder generation that grew up in the Soviet era, including me personally. Believe me the national leadership feels the same way," Matviyenko said.