Throughout the post-Soviet era, Russia made a great deal of concessions to the Ukrainian government, whose insatiable appetite turned out to be worth tens of billions of dollars, according to the data.

In his address to the nation in 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin elaborated on the various privileges and multi-million dollar favors Russia had granted to its neighbor in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The many concessions made by the Russian government included trade agreements, energy supplies, purchasing Eurobonds, and paying off old debt.

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Ukraine is withdrawing units from parts of Avdeyevka, spokesman for the country's military, Dmytro Lykhovoy, said, as quoted by Reuters.

"In Avdeevka a manoeuvre is underway in some places to withdraw our units to more advantageous positions," Lykhovoy said in televised comments.

"Therefore the key announcement with regards to all this is that supplies to Avdeevka and evacuations from there are difficult," he said.

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❗️The Russian Investigative Committee opened a case of terrorist attack following yesterday's Ukrainian shelling of Belgorod

❗️ WATCH NOW: Lavrov Speaks at Conference Marking 10th Anniversary of 'Euromaidan' Unrest

Watch the livestream here or follow the link to the Sputnik's website

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❗️ "Back in 2004, there was essentially the first coup in Ukraine, because the West forced Ukraine's constitutional court to rule on a third round of elections, which was not foreseen. Because they did not need Yanukovych, who was elected with the votes of the south and southeast," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

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❗️ Sergey Lavrov said that the UK's position on the conflict in Ukraine is even more aggressive than the US’ one

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❗️ "The original agreement was to solve the problems in Ukraine by federalizing it. But Kiev decided to abandon this, trying to solve the ‘Donbass problem’ by force - almost like the ‘final solution to the Jewish question’ in Nazi Germany," Lavrov said.

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❗️ "Putin personally persuaded Donbass not to give up the possibility of negotiations. That is why the negotiations in Minsk became possible. But as we know, the West took advantage of it to arm Kiev. This is in fact a admission of guilt," Lavrov said.

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❗️ EU made recommendations to Ukraine to use more long-range missiles to attack Russian territories - Lavrov

❗️ "Do you know what the main interest was at the discussion of Zelensky's peace formula in Davos? The group picture. Just to make it look nice," Lavrov said

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❗️ "Europe humiliatingly and uncomplainingly accepts the rules of the US’ game, despite recession. Remember how after Biden actually announced the Nord Stream explosion, Scholz flew over there to bow down? He was told not to make a fuss. So he quietly flew home, without any conferences," Lavrov said

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❗️ Zelensky's formula is nothing, or at the very least an unintelligent initiative that the West is trying to lure other countries into, demanding their support, Sergey Lavrov said

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❗️ There are many mercenaries in Ukraine, even from terrorist organizations, including IS*, Lavrov said.

It is known that IS* is patronized by the US and they are trained at the illegal At-Tanf base in Syria, he added.

* Terrorist group outlawed in Russia and other countries.

❗️ "The epiphany of the American public after Putin's interview with Carlson speaks of one thing: they live in a complete information blockade. First of all, they are fed propaganda in the interests of the US Democratic Party. So it turns out that they have no freedom of speech," Lavrov said.

"We don't have such problems. We do not censor everything that is said in the West. On the contrary, we show everything, and our political analysts discuss it," he added.

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❗️ "Euromaidan has set a course to destroy everything Russian in Ukraine. A law banned the Russian language, even though about 80 percent of the Ukrainian population is more comfortable communicating in Russian. By and large, this is a kind of genocide," Lavrov said.

"And when the word genocide was mentioned in the context of Kiev's policy, Ukraine sued us in the International Court of Justice to have them condemn our statements about Zelensky. And so the court ruled in our favor. The court ruled that Kiev was not fighting any terrorists in Donetsk and Lugansk," he added.

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❗️ There has not been a single conflict in the world where the US and its allies have respected the principle of equality of states, Sergey Lavrov said

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❗️ "UN reform has been discussed for a long time, it is overdue. Two aspects are important to me. Conceptually, we are convinced that the UN Charter contains all the necessary principles for peace and security. Only the US is tearing out these principles to suit itself," Sergey Lavrov said.

"The UN Charter must remain at the core of the action. The principles must be applied in their entirety," the minister added.

"The second aspect is practical. There is a need to reform the Security Council. This topic is now in the spotlight, and for many it is a matter of prestige. The reform should remove historical injustice and represent the world's majority countries in the Security Council," he concluded.

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📹 Zelensky's formula is nothing, or at the very least an unintelligent initiative that the West is trying to lure other countries into, demanding their support, Sergey Lavrov said

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