There is no end in sight to the war in Ukraine. In an interview, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov threatened the country and reiterated well-known demands: If Ukraine does not recognize the occupied territories, the matter will be decided by the Russian army.
Russia has reaffirmed its terms for peace talks with Ukraine. After President Vladimir Putin indicated a willingness to talk, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said harshly that Ukraine must meet Moscow's demands, otherwise the Russian military will do so. Lavrov reiterated well-known demands such as the recognition of the occupied territories, which make up around a fifth of Ukraine's national territory, the "demilitarization" and "denazification" of the rest of Ukraine, and security guarantees.
"The matter is quite simple: fulfill them for your own good. Otherwise, the matter will be decided by the Russian army," Lavrov said in an interview published by the Russian news agency TASS. Lavrov also accused the West of wanting to destroy Russia. "It is no secret to anyone that the strategic goal of the United States and its NATO allies is to defeat Russia on the battlefield in order to significantly weaken or even destroy our country," he said in the TASS interview.
He blamed the government of President Joe Biden for the strained relations with the United States. No new initiatives for arms control of nuclear weapons or for security guarantees are planned. Lavrov also called on the West to exercise maximum restraint in the "highly sensitive" nuclear area.
Putin said on Sunday that Russia was ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the conflict. However, the leadership in Kyiv and their Western supporters have refused to hold talks. Ukraine immediately contradicted this. She demands the withdrawal of all Russian troops, including those from the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed in 2014. There is no end in sight to the war, which the Russian leadership describes as a special military operation. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the situation on the front in the eastern Donbass region is "difficult and painful".
Above all, the situation on the front in Bakhmut, Kreminna and other areas in the Donbass requires a maximum of strength and concentration, Zelenskyy said in his evening video address. "The occupiers are using every means at their disposal - and they are considerable resources - to make any advance."
The Ukrainian General Staff said that in the past 24 hours, Russian attacks on two settlements in the Luhansk region and six in the Donetsk region had been repulsed. The power outages in Ukraine as a result of the Russian air strikes on the energy infrastructure are also continuing. According to Selenskyj, almost nine million people were recently without electricity.
