For seven years, Western countries have been ignoring Russia’s calls to put pressure on Kiev to make it fulfill the Minsk deal, Zakharova noted. "They did nothing, made no moves and showed no willingness to do anything, they only kept mumbling into the microphone that everyone should do their job and implement the Minsk Agreements, primarily pointing to Russia, though it was not part of the accords," the diplomat added.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories and the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country. In response, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and a number of other countries announced sanctions against Russian individuals and entities.