Kuleba calls Russia's reaction to establishment of Ukrainian Statehood Day nervous, manipulative, anticipated

KYIV. Aug 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The reaction of the Russian side to the decree of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on the establishment of a new holiday in Ukraine – the Day of Ukrainian Statehood – is incorrect and manipulative, but already familiar to Kyiv, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.

"The President in a certain way restored historical justice and determined that the Day of Ukrainian Statehood would be celebrated on the Day of the Baptism of Ukraine-Rus. An extremely nervous reaction was sounded both from my colleague Sergey Lavrov and from Russia in general. This is normal, we should take it calmly," Kuleba said at a briefing on Thursday, commenting on the reaction of the Russian Federation to the establishment by the President of Ukraine of the Day of Ukrainian Statehood.

According to him, Lavrov’s comments "are inappropriate, historically incorrect and it is very regrettable to see another transformation of diplomacy into propaganda performed by Russian diplomats."

"You and I are used to Russia’s manipulative attitude to history, but our answer to this is very simple: colleagues, Russian colleagues, Ukraine, unlike you, does not need to privatize anything, because we have been on our land for 1,000 years, then we remain on it. It is you who come to someone else’s land, trying to appropriate it, you are trying to appropriate someone else’s history, someone else’s food, someone else’s culture. Ukraine was, is and will be, and the decree of the President of Ukraine simply enshrined this fact," the head of the Ukrainian foreign policy department said.

He also noted that "Moscow’s attempts as a historical periphery to be called a center are not new" and existed already hundreds of years ago. "But the fact remains: there are no two Kyiv cities. There is one Kyiv, and this is Ukrainian Kyiv, and this is the capital of the Ukrainian state, which has been the capital of Ancient Rus from the very beginning. This is our history, our past, our present and our future," Kuleba said.

As reported, on August 24, the Independence Day of Ukraine, Zelensky announced the introduction of a new Ukrainian holiday – the Day of Ukrainian Statehood, which will be celebrated on the day of the baptism of Rus-Ukraine, and signed a corresponding decree. The text of decree No. 423 was published on the website of the head of state. It states that the Day of Ukrainian Statehood will be celebrated annually on July 28.

A presidential bill under No. 5864 on the establishment of a holiday on the Day of Ukrainian Statehood was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on August 25.