AA / Moscou
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said Russia is ready to start talks with Ukraine as the war continues.
This is what emerges from the statements given to journalists, in the capital Moscow, via videoconference.
Lavrov said the second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine will take place later.
The Russian minister added: “We are ready to negotiate. But we will continue the military operation. We will not allow the existence of Ukrainian infrastructures, which would threaten the security of Russia”.
He pointed out that they were targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure.
Sergei Lavrov explained that Russia will continue operations for the disarmament of Ukraine and the destruction of its military infrastructure, even if Moscow were to sign a peace agreement with Kiev.
The kick-off of the negotiations was given on Monday, in the border region of Homiel, located near the border between Ukraine and Belarus. The talks bring together a negotiating delegation from Kyiv and its Russian counterpart, with the aim of reaching a ceasefire agreement. However, the two parties have not been able to achieve any result, to date.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday that a delegation representing his country would hold a meeting “without preconditions” with Russian officials at the Belarusian border.
At dawn on February 24, Russia began a war in Ukraine, which had provoked strong international reactions and the imposition of “severe” economic and financial sanctions on Moscow.
*Translated from Arabic by Mounir Bennour
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