The president of the State Duma —Lower House of Parliament— of Russia, Vyacheslav Volodin, said this Thursday in Managua that Russian invasion of Ukraine it intends to “prevent a large-scale war”, and minimized the sanctions imposed by the United States after the military operation.
“Our president Vladimir Putin’s decision to carry out the peacekeeping operation is intended to prevent the humanitarian catastrophe and also prevent large-scale war,” Volodin said through a translator from the Nicaraguan National Assembly headquarters. which held a special session in his honor.
“The population of Ukraine does not have to fear the peacekeeping operation, because it is aimed at demilitarization only,” he added.
The head of the Russian Duma indicated that “Ukraine must become an independent, democratic and peaceful state, and must free itself from the ultra-nationalist ideology directed against the people in order to develop in the interests of its people.”
Volodin also said that NATO “does not have to solve” security issues in Ukraine, and that “the United States has to stop.”
“Washington wants to stop the development of our States and they believe that the sanctions will make us weaker, but they will not get away with it,” launched the President of the Duma, who stressed that “the road to freedom is very difficult” and that “They know what the price of conquering sovereignty is.”
Thanks for Ortega’s support
Volodin thanked the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortegafor being one of the first leaders to support Russia in the unilateral recognition of the pro-Russian separatist territories of Donetsk and Lugansk (eastern Ukraine), including Russian military support.
“We thank the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, who was one of the first to declare the importance of recognizing the independence of the popular regions of Donbás to guarantee the security of the people,” he said.
He highlighted that “Nicaragua is one of Russia’s solid partners” and that both countries strengthen their relations based on mutual respect, trust and “guided by the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign States”.
He stressed that Putin and Ortega have decided to “expand our strategic cooperation in all spheres.”
He also thanked Nicaragua for supporting the annexation of Crimea to Russia and for joining Moscow in recognizing the independence of the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
In 2008, a year after Ortega returned to power, Nicaragua joined Russia in recognizing the independence of the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and in 2020 established a consulate in Crimea, a Ukrainian territory annexed to Russia. .
The special legislative session was attended by Laureano Ortega Murillo, son of President Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo.
Second high-level visit
Volodin plans to meet with Ortega in the afternoon. The representative of the Duma arrived in Managua from Cuba, where he received the political support of Havana in the face of “interference” and “propaganda hysteria” from the US and Western powers due to the crisis in Ukraine.
Volodin’s is the second high-level visit that Nicaragua receives from Russia in February, after Russia’s deputy prime minister, Yuri Borisov, attended last week.
At the end of Borísov’s visit on February 17, President Ortega said that he was in solidarity with Moscow at “these are times when empires threaten peace again, and threaten peace in the way they are attacking to Russia”, in reference to the tensions between Russia and the United States due to the crisis in Ukraine.
Nicaragua and Russia have strengthened their relations in all fields since Ortega returned to the Presidency in 2007, after having coordinated a Government Junta from 1979 to 1985 and presiding over the country for the first time from 1985 to 1990.
In the Ortega governments, Russia has provided support to Nicaragua in various fields, including the military, transportation, and food.
