Flames and smoke rise from a damaged gym following shelling in Kyiv
Highlights
- Moscow said ready for peace talks but will press effort to destroy Ukraine’s military infrastructure
- "Russia will insist on provisions that Ukraine will never again represent military threat to Russia"
- Russian official said it will be up to Ukrainians to choose what government they should have.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday said Moscow is ready for peace talks but will press its effort to destroy Ukraine’s military infrastructure, which Moscow claims is threatening Russia.
The Foreign Minister said that the Russian delegation to the talks submitted its demands to Ukrainian negotiators earlier this week and is now waiting for Kyiv’s response in a meeting set for Thursday.
Lavrov said that Russia will insist on provisions that Ukraine will never again represent a military threat to Russia. He said it will be up to Ukrainians to choose what government they should have.
Lavrov voiced regret for civilian casualties during the Russian action in Ukraine, which started last week, and insisted that the Russian military is using only precision weapons against military targets.
He tacitly acknowledged that some Russian strikes could have killed civilians, saying that “any military action is fraught with casualties, and not just among the military but also civilians.”
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