Sergei Lavrov, Chancellor of Russia, said on Wednesday (20) that his country’s military expansion objectives in the Ukrainian War – which he calls a special military operation – are no longer concentrated in Donbass, the Russian-speaking east of Ukraine.
The diplomat, who has headed Russian diplomacy for almost two decades, also said that the desired share of the neighboring country could increase if Western countries intensify the sending of weapons and military equipment to Kiev, as President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested.
“We cannot allow Zelensky or whoever replaces him to have weapons that pose a direct threat to our territory and the territory of the republics that have declared their independence,” he said, referring to the self-proclaimed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, which Vladimir Putin acknowledged. days before starting the military invasion.
Lavrov was speaking in an interview with Russian broadcaster RT, and excerpts were transcribed by the RIA news agency. The statements update the stated Russian military objectives. In March, a month after starting the war, Moscow, after suffering successive defeats on the outskirts of Kiev, said its main objective was the liberation of Donbass.
Earlier, when he invaded Ukraine, Putin presented as justifications the need to demilitarize and “denazify” the country that was part of the Soviet Union – a claim refuted by experts.
Russian troops conquered Lugansk province earlier this month and have since stepped up attacks to take neighboring Donetsk. There are also other territories under Russian rule in the southern portion, such as Kherson and Zaporijia.
The United States claimed on Tuesday (19) that Russia plans to annex parts of Ukrainian territory, as it did with the Crimean peninsula eight years ago.
John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, said the measures included rigged annexation referendums, installing illegitimate representatives, establishing the Russian ruble as the official currency and mandating that citizens of conquered portions obtain Russian citizenship.
