Compliance with intl. law, dialogue key to end Ukraine conflict: Iran administration spokesman

The Iranian administration's spokesman has expressed concern over the provocative expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to the East, stressing the importance of remaining committed to the international law and relying on dialogue and diplomacy as the main solution to end the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

"Adherence to international law and humanitarian law and reliance on dialogue and diplomacy are essential to ending [the Ukrainian] conflict," Ali Bahadori Jahromi said in a post on his Twitter account on Friday.

"Security concerns about the growing and provocative expansion of NATO eastward are understandable to all independent countries that are opposed to US hegemony," he added.

In another tweet earlier in the day, the administration spokesman dismissed war as a solution to the conflict in Ukraine.

"War is not a solution; reliance upon the US cannot bring about security," Bahadori Jahromi said.

His tweets came after Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi told his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in a late Thursday phone call that the continued NATO expansion threatens stability and security of independent countries.

Iran’s president to Putin: Expansion of NATO serious threat against security of independent countries

Iran’s president tells his Russian counterpart that the continued expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization threatens stability and security of independent countries.

“The continued expansion of NATO is a serious threat against the stability and security of independent countries in various regions” of the world," Iran’s president said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also said in a tweet on Thursday that the crisis unfolding in Ukraine stems from the provocative acts by the US-led NATO military alliance, but added that there is no military solution to the crisis.

In a televised address early on Thursday, Putin announced a “special military operation” in the eastern Ukraine regions of Donetsk and Lugansk — which are ruled by self-proclaimed republics — to “defend people” there against Kiev’s forces.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine continued for the second day, with explosions reported in Kiev as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rued being "left alone" by the West and announced readiness to declare neutrality.

Ukraine rues being 'left alone' by West, offers neutrality; Russia calls for surrender

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine continued for second day, with explosions reported in Kiev as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rued being "left alone" by the West and announced readiness to declare neutrality.

Russia's forces pressed deep into Ukraine as deadly battles reached the outskirts of Kiev. 

Ukraine currently is not part of NATO or the European Union, though it wants to join both. Ukraine gave up its nuclear arms, after gaining independence on the breakup of the Soviet Union, in exchange for security guarantees from European countries.

West responsible for wars waged to resist its strategy: Iran's top security official

Separately, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani on Friday declared his hatred of war, holding the West directly responsible for the wars and crises which aim to resist the West's strategy.

"Nothing is more hateful than war, but when the West seeks to strike at the national security of nations in various ways, it is in fact directly responsible for the wars and crises that are formed in order to resist the West's strategy," the top Iranian security official tweeted.

In 2014, Ukraine’s two regions of Donetsk and Lugansk were turned into self-proclaimed republics by ethnic Russians, leading to a bloody conflict between the government forces and the armed separatists.

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