On Monday, Russia's overseas minister put a brand new spin on his nation's reasoning for invading Ukraine by claiming the "particular army motion" is supposed to place an finish to america' quest for "world domination" and the enlargement of NATO.

Talking to the Russian state-owned tv information channel Rossiya 24, Overseas Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the U.S. and different Western nations of violating worldwide regulation and trying to impose a "rules-based" world order.

"Our particular army operation is supposed to place an finish to the unabashed enlargement [of NATO] and the unabashed drive in the direction of full domination by the U.S. and its Western topics on the world stage," Lavrov instructed Rossiya 24, in accordance with a translation from Russian state-run media outlet RT.

"This domination is constructed on gross violations of worldwide regulation and beneath some guidelines, which they're now hyping a lot and which they make up on a case-by-case foundation," Lavrov added.

Sergei Lavrov
Russian Overseas Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed Monday that the battle in Ukraine is supposed to cease U.S. "world domination." Right here, Lavrov gestures throughout a information convention in Moscow, on April 8, 2022. ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/POOL/AFP/Getty Photos

Russia has repeatedly tried to justify its invasion of Ukraine, and has refused to name its army actions a battle. When Russian President Vladimir Putin first ordered troops to assault Ukraine on February 24, he stated he stated he was looking for the "denazification" of Ukraine. Putin has baselessly claimed that the administration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—a democratically elected Jewish chief—is overrun by "Nazis" who've promoted "genocide."

Final month, Lavrov additionally defended the battle by saying that Russia is working to forestall a separate battle in Ukraine.

"The purpose of Russia's particular army operation is to cease any battle that might happen on Ukrainian territory or that might begin from there," Lavrov stated, in accordance with a tweet posted by the Russian embassy in London.

Putin has additionally used Ukraine's pursuit of NATO membership as justification for invading the nation, claiming that it posed a menace to Russian safety. Nevertheless, in response to the battle, Zelensky stated final month that Ukraine will not search admission to the army alliance.

Russia's invasion has up to now been met with fierce resistance by Ukrainian forces. Nevertheless, Russian troops have been accused of committing grim battle crimes by concentrating on and massacring civilian populations throughout the nation.

On Friday, a Russian missile struck a practice station within the japanese metropolis of Kramatorsk, killing at the least 50 Ukrainian civilians who have been trying to flee the war-torn nation. Days earlier, Ukrainian officers stated Russian troops tortured and killed tons of of residents earlier than withdrawing from the nation's capitol, Kyiv.

Extraordinarily graphic photographs have emerged displaying mass graves and corpses with their arms tied behind their backs within the city of Bucha, the place greater than 300 residents have been murdered. Russian troops have additionally been accused of killing youngsters, in addition to raping and torturing ladies.

In keeping with information from the United Nations, 1,842 Ukrainian residents have been killed for the reason that begin of the battle, although the precise quantity is predicted to be a lot increased. On Sunday, Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S. vowed that each one Russian troops concerned in committing atrocities might be prosecuted in a global courtroom.

"All of them might be prosecuted, each army commanders, personnel, individuals who did it on the bottom, the individuals who ordered it, and in the end Putin," Oksana Markarova instructed CBS' Face the Nation. "There ought to be no place on earth the place they'll conceal."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's overseas ministry for remark.