[REGNUM] Hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens live in Donbass, and therefore Russia will take all necessary measures to protect them. This was announced on December 31 by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. As the Russian Foreign Minister pointed out in an interview with RIA Novosti, Western countries support Kiev's militaristic aspirations, and the Ukrainian authorities "perceive this support as carte blanche for a military operation."
"As for the residents of Donbass, where hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens live, Russia will take all necessary measures to protect them. ... The uncontested basis for this remains the Minsk complex of measures approved by UNSCR 2202," he said.
At the same time, Lavrov stressed that any possible provocations from Ukraine "will be given an adequate response."
As reported by IA REGNUM , earlier Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that in order to "bargain" for themselves unilateral concessions, the US authorities artificially restrict the issuance of nonimmigrant visas for residents of Russia.