Russia asserts that it ‘speaks and fights’ with Ukraine at the same time

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov – Photo: REUTERS

Speaking to Russian state television, Lavrov said he saw no reason not to continue talks with Ukraine.

However, Foreign Minister Lavrov also affirmed that Moscow will not stop the military operation when the two sides return to negotiations as Russia did before.

Specifically, according to Reuters news agency, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a halt to military activities during the first round of negotiations between the two delegations of Russia and Ukraine at the end of February.

However, Lavrov said Moscow’s position had changed since then, “because Russia did not see Ukraine’s intention to take similar action in response to the country’s pause in the operation during negotiations.”

“A decision has been made during the next rounds of negotiations that there will be no pause (the military operation) as long as a final agreement is not reached,” Lavrov said.

Earlier, Russian officials said peace talks with Ukraine were not moving as quickly as they would have liked.

Moscow also accused Western countries of trying to derail the negotiations by making accusations against Russian troops in Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly denied these allegations.

On February 24, Russia began a special military operation in Ukraine, deploying tens of thousands of troops across the border of the neighboring country.

Ukrainian forces have resisted fiercely, while the West has imposed a series of sanctions on Russia for the operation.

Last week, Lavrov accused Kiev of “presenting” to Moscow an “unacceptable” draft peace agreement that went against previous agreements reached by the two sides.

Ukraine has denied Mr. Lavrov’s accusations, saying Moscow wants to divert attention from war crimes allegations against Russian soldiers.