UK foreign secretary states protest to Russian ambassador over action on Ukraine

MOSCOW. Feb 24 (Interfax) - British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has expressed the most decisive protest to the Russian ambassador in London over the launch by Russia of a special operation in Donbas, the Russian Embassy to the United Kingdom said.

"On February 24 the ambassador of the Russian Federation, Andrei Kelin, was invited to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Elizabeth Truss. She stated the 'most decisive' protest over the 'unprovoked and unjustified' Russian attack on Ukraine," the embassy said in a statement obtained by Interfax on Thursday.

"She stressed that there will follow a relevant international reaction in respect of the Russian Federation," it said.

The ambassador explained in detail that, "the reluctance of NATO countries, including Britain, to discuss security guarantees with Russia, in combination with Ukraine's refusal to implement the Minsk agreements have driven diplomatic efforts to the deadlock," the embassy said.

"Against this backdrop, the increasingly aggressive actions of Ukrainian armed forces and the real threat of a Ukrainian military attack on the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics leave us with no choice but to respond to their plea for help," it stated.