US embassy expresses solidarity with those "who strive to create a more peaceful future"
Russia and the US have competed and collaborated throughout history to overcome the greatest challenges facing the world, and what is happening now is "not worthy" of Russians, the US embassy in Russia said in a statement.
“We believe that what is happening is not worthy of you, and we stand in solidarity with each of you who are striving to create a more peaceful future,” the message posted on Twitter reads.
A video with an appeal to the Russians is also attached to the publication, which states that Russia and the United States are united by "common cultures and our achievements." Diplomats in their address recall that Russian literature is studied in American schools, and works of Russian classical music "are performed in our most prestigious cultural institutions."
Rolling footage shows writers Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky, meetings between leaders of the two countries at different times: Leonid Brezhnev and Richard Nixon, Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, Boris Yeltsin and Bill Cleaton, and Russian and American cosmonauts. At the end of the video, a video from a protest action in St. Petersburg is shown.
Russia has been conducting a special military operation in Ukraine since February 24, 2022. Moscow called its goals the protection of the population and the “complete liberation” of Donbass, the “denazification” and “demilitarization” of the neighboring country and ensuring its own security. The US, EU and their allies have condemned the operation, imposed sanctions against Russia and are providing support to Kyiv.
The desire to join the EU and NATO is enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine. Kyiv is a candidate for EU membership, and in September 2022 applied to join the North Atlantic Alliance. The authorities of the leading NATO countries - the United States and Germany - expressed the opinion that the time had not yet come for Ukraine to join the alliance.
Since the beginning of the Russian operation, the United States has been actively providing military assistance to Ukraine, supplying it with weapons, ammunition and equipment. The American authorities spoke in favor of negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv, but believe that the conditions for them should be determined by the Ukrainians.
American President Joe Biden, after the start of the Russian special operation, stated that the Russians are not an enemy to the United States because of the events in Ukraine. “Let me say this, if you can hear [this appeal]: you, the people of Russia, are not our enemies,” he said.
Shortly before the start of the operation, in mid-February, Biden stated that the United States did not threaten the Russians and did not want destabilization in Russia.