Arab League Nations Under Western Pressure to Oppose Russia, Secretary General Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - In response to Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, which Moscow started on 24 February in a bid to protect the Donbass People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk , Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive anti-Russian sanctions campaign and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine.

The West has been pressuring Arab League countries to condemn Russia amid Moscow's special operation in Ukraine, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, has said.

"They [Arab League countries] did not succumb to this dictate to which they were subjected, and some even refused to vote for condemning the actions of the Russian Federation," Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in a Sunday interview with the Egyptian Sada el-Balad TV channel.

The Secretary General emphasized that the West is trying to get Arab League members to take its side and oppose and condemn Moscow in order to "surround" Russia.

Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, after the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian shellings.

Russia said that the aim of its special operation is to demilitarize and "denazify" Ukraine.

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the goal is to protect the people of Donbass, "who have been subjected to abuse, genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years."