'Russia won't stop war in Ukraine amid negotiations,' warns Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Russia won't stop the war in Ukraine amid negotiations, said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday. Speaking to local media outlets, Lavrov underlined that while negotiations were ongoing, Russia won’t stop its attacks. He also denied that Russia was committing war crimes in Ukraine, calling the visuals of the mass graves “staged” and “provocations", Kyiv Independent reported.

Speaking in an interview with Russian state television, the Foreign Minister further revealed that talks with Kyiv were not progressing as rapidly as Moscow had desired. He accused the West of derailing the negotiations between the two nations by alleging that his country was committing 'war crimes', as was seen through the horrific visuals in Bucha.

The leader asserted, that while Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the suspension of 'military operations' in Ukraine during the first round of talks held in Belarus, the stand had since then changed.  A decision was made that “during the next round of talks, there would be no pause (in military action) so long as a final agreement is not reached," he said, adding that Moscow took the decision after it was convinced that the Ukrainian side was not planning to reciprocate. 

Russia-Ukraine talks 

Delegations of Russia and Ukraine previously held the meeting on March 29 in Istanbul, the first face-to-face talks between the two nations in over three weeks. Talks had shifted to the virtual mode in between, and the last time they were held in person was during the first round in Belarus.

During the Istanbul negotiations, the Ukrainian delegation outlined a framework under which Kyiv would declare itself neutral, reported AP. In turn, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin announced that the armed forces of Moscow would reduce its military action in Kyiv and Chernihiv in a bid to "increase mutual trust" and develop conditions for "further negotiations." The talks between the delegations of Ukraine and Russia came at a time when Moscow's military offensive at the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin has transcended the first month.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) recently stated that over 4.5 million people have fled the war-struck country ever since the onset of the invasion on February 24. A breakthrough is still awaited. 

(With agency inputs; Image: AP)