24th February 2024 marks the 2nd year since Russia commenced its special military operation in Ukraine. Whatever negative image portrayed by the West led by the US may say, Russia is conducting its special military operation in Ukraine against the collective West. The City of Avdeevka, which is one of the key deciders is now under the control of the Russian army. This achievement is marked in history. I believe and this I say without any exaggeration that the Ukrainian authorities are delaying to admit they are defeated militarily by the Russian forces. However, the moment the announcement is made, there are dangers of new missions being launched in Europe to establish American imperial hegemony.

Accordingly, the Lanka Leader website decided to directly draw the Russian version of the situation about the special military operation against the collective West in Ukraine and the fate of the people of the world, with His Excellency Mr. Levan S. Dzhagaryan, the Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka. 

Question: February 24th of this year, marks two years since the special operation launched by the Russian forces in Ukraine. So far, according to your Excellency’s point of view, has the special operation achieved the objectives that Russia had hoped for?

His Excellency Mr. Levan S. Dzhagaryan: Thank you very much for coming. Your coming to our premises is an honor to us and allowing us to express our point of view regarding the special military operation which is conducted in Ukraine is a pleasure to us. First of all, I would like to inform you my leader, President Putin is delivering a speech in the Parliament with the presence of higher rankers of the Russian government and many other invitees regarding the current situation and victories gained by the Russian army in the special military operation. In his speech, President Putin highlighted what is gained and what are the aims of the special military operation in Ukraine. I invite you and the Sri Lankan people to follow President Putin’s speech.

However, you correctly mentioned in your question what the Russian army has been doing in Ukraine. I again emphasize that it is not a war between Russia and Ukraine it is a proxy war between the collective West and Russia in Ukraine territory. The important fact is this proxy war was headed by the United States of America. The USA wants to destroy Russia. Because Russia is the main obstacle for the American Domination. Russia rejects any domination in the world. Russia builds relationships with any country on any continent in the world without considering its size or its economic capabilities. This relationship is built based on mutual respect and equality. We launched the special military operation in Ukraine because the collective West failed to be concerned about our security. After the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War collective West promised us extension of NATO would not be executed. But they did not keep their promise. Instead of keeping the promise they expand NATO to the east and close to the Russian borders. They stationed missiles, and other heavy military equipment and established military bases along the Russian borders. The guaranteed security for Russia was ignored.  That’s why Russia started a special military operation in Ukraine. There are several goals within the special military operation in Ukraine.

First of all, the special military operation is aimed at eradicating the neo-Nazism regime in Ukraine. It is currently governed by the followers of Adolf Hitler and his accomplices. Very shamefully some countries supported fascist Germany back in the 1940s. Among them are Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, Romania, Finland, and Spain. And some countries today welcome the new regime in Nazi Ukraine.

Secondly, the NATO status of Ukraine. Russia will never accept any membership of Ukraine in this organization. Meanwhile collective West offered a peace deal to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Russia never believes in Western countries. Because they disguised Russia several times.  Russia’s stance is collective West must accept the Crimea region, Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic, Kherson Oblast, and Zaporizhzhia Oblast historically belong to Russian land.

The most important fact I have to reveal Ukraine was very close to a peace deal with Russia. The coup d'état staged in Ukraine in 2014 overthrew the government of President Viktor Yanukovych. In 2014 another important agreement relevant to peace in Ukraine came into force with the mediation of Germany and France. That was the Minsk agreement. But German Chancellor Angela Markel and the President of France François Hollande who mediated to sign the Minsk agreement revealed that they deliberately mediated to sign the Minsk agreement to take time to energize Ukraine militarily. So the Ukrainian government launched war against the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic. Also after the short period when Russia launched the special operation on February 24th of February 2022, the Ukraine government is about to agree with Russia in Istanbul Turkey. But Boris Johnston the Prime minister of the United Kingdom suppressed it. After the collapse of the peace talks many clashes occurred between Russia and Ukraine. The key to the “door of peace” is with Washington. Russia is ready for peace talks at any time. But if they want to defeat Russia in battle field we are ready to continue.

Question: According to your Excellency’s perception, the war between Russia and the collective West on the territory of Ukraine is going to end with victory to the Russian army.

His Excellency Mr. Levan S. Dzhagaryan: Of course! no doubt we will defeat the puppet regime in Ukraine and its foreign Western sponsors.

Question:  However, economic experts predict that Europe, which was trapped by American imperialists to join hands in this war, will be pushed into a serious economic crisis. Europe going into an economic abyss will be beneficial for the American imperialists. What is Your Excellency’s opinion on this? What measures is Russia considering to take to prevent Europe from falling into the trap of the United States?

His Excellency Mr. Levan S. Dzhagaryan: Why should we prevent if one should want to fall in to trap?

Question: Because of European people …

His Excellency Mr. Levan S. Dzhagaryan: European people have elected the European government. Then European people play a major part in this scenario. You correctly mentioned that American imperialists controlled Europeans to fulfill their interests.  You know! We respect the European People. The prosperity of Germany and many other European countries ‘prosperity based on Russian Cheap Natural Gas for decades. We built a pipeline to supply cheap Russian Natural Gas to Europe. But it has been destroyed. Who was behind this terrorist attack? The answer is simple Americans. That attack was not done by Ukraine. Norway and other countries mediated to stop the investigation. They did not allow Russia to participate in the investigation. Because they are afraid that real attackers might reveal if the investigations occurred. Why did Americans destroy the pipeline? Because Americans' aspiration is Europe depends on Expensive American LNG. Europeans unfortunately have lost their independence. You know some Giant Manufacturing companies and big farms in Germany trying to move from the USA gas supply. Because the electricity cost is very high as they use American LNG. We are ready to build up economic relationships for equal cooperation and mutual benefit with European countries. But the choice is up to them. They impose sanctions on Russia at the same time they import Russian Natural Gas. They still buy Russian petroleum products. We highly appreciate our partners, namely India and China, in this regard.

Question: It is very clear that the unipolar power structure that has been operating in the whole world is becoming a multipolar power structure. In this scenario, India is showing signs of becoming a new powerful state in Asia as well as in the entire world, along with China. In our point of view, they are creating alternative military economic political power centers for the United States of America. In a way, this is a serious threat to the existence of states with weak economic capabilities in Asia. Maldives is experiencing it today. In such a situation, what is the reaction of Russia to neutralize this development?

His Excellency Mr. Levan S. Dzhagaryan:  We are against the unipolar world. We are against the domination of one country. Once again I emphasize we must respect each other. We highly appreciate and pay our big respect to China and India. They are very strong countries. We continue the policy of bilateral cooperation with them. China and Russia have a common border. China and Russia continue to trade with mutual benefits. Likewise, we have a good relationship with India. At the same time, China has not a very good relationship with the USA. India also has a very good relationship with Russia and USA. At the same time, India participates in different organizations of cooperation such as BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation, and some other corporations like as Quad (The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD), commonly known as the Quad, is a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan and the United States that is maintained by talks between member countries.)  From the perspective of Russia Quad is not a friendly organization. But is up to the Indian sovereign decision. Once again I emphasize Russia supports a multi-polar world as much as possible. After the inevitable victory in Ukraine, Russia will actively play its role in the other parts of the world including the Indian Ocean region.

Question: A large delegation of more than 40 members headed by the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev visited Sri Lanka recently. Has the situation, after their mission, developed in a way that is satisfactory for Russia-Sri Lanka relations? What are the benefits to Sri Lanka from this Russian mission?

His Excellency Mr. Levan S. Dzhagaryan :  Yes, it was a big delegation consisting of 60 members who visited Sri Lanka last year. They met the President of Sri Lanka, the defense secretary, and some other important ministry ministers and higher-ranking government officers. And also we met business council members. We gave some proposals to the Sri Lankan government. We hope our proposals will be considered by the Sri Lankan government. We are waiting for some feedback from Sri Lanka. By the way on the 4th of March this year, which means this coming Monday, Big Russian delegates are scheduled to visit Sri Lanka. Part of the delegation coming from Delhi and they will meet some ministers and private business owners. They will meet delegates from the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Ports and Aviation, the Ministry of Trade and Commerce, the Ministry of Industry so on. So we closely follow the process and progress and we give our utmost support to strengthen our bilateral economic relationship. Now large number of Russian tourists visit Sri Lanka and they pump foreign currencies into your economy I think it is very useful to upgrade your economy.

Question: Will the Russian private business company invest in Sri Lankan private businesses and industries also?

His Excellency Mr. Levan S. Dzhagaryan :  Russian private business owners also participate in the round table discussion. We will see what is the progress. I would like to emphasize that the agreement is good but it should be followed by the implementation.

Question:  Every time the economies of the imperialists face an economic depression, the tactic they choose to counter it, is a world-scale bloody war. The First and Second World Wars confirm it well.

The effects of the world wars, clearly show the American Imperialists obtained great benefits. For example, after World War II, the US dollar became the petro-dollar, and the US reaped huge benefits. Although Russia gained special victories in World War II, the United States of America gained long-term economic, political, and military benefits through it. Even if the Western nations led by the United States were defeated in the Ukraine war, the United States has the ability to create a long-lasting war in Taiwan, Latin American regions, or any other place in the world. I believe that no matter what assessment Russia and China have regarding the United States, finally the United States may take the economic political, and military advantage of the war. What does Your Excellency have to say regarding my opinion?

His Excellency Mr. Levan S. Dzhagaryan :  You mentioned quite correctly as a result of WWII the USA manipulated the Dollar as a worldwide used currency.  And also unfortunately it continues to be the number one currency in the world. We are nothing against the dollar but we are against the dollar as leverage a sanction, leverage of pressure, and used as any kind of leverage. As a result of this leverage world commercial and trade sector widely used other currencies CIS states use Ruble. For China Russia commercial transactions widely used Yuan and Ruble. The Indian rupee is also an emerging important international currency. The world trend is abandoning the dollar in international trade. Considering the situation developing in international trade and commerce it is clear that the domination of the dollar will end shortly. I emphasize again Russia is never against the dollar but against using the dollar as leverage to punish those who don't want to be the US vassals, leverage that undermines the world order.

Conversation notes: Jeewantha Jayatissa