Russian Federation has never asked for negotiations with Ukraine, - Lavrov
Russia has never asked for negotiations on the situation in Ukraine, but has declared its readiness to listen to those who show interest in a negotiated solution.
This was said by the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Serhii Lavrov, Censor.NET reports with reference to Interfax.
"When we are accused of constantly asking for some kind of negotiations to buy time to, so to speak, gather additional forces for a special military operation, well, it's both funny and unpleasant, because people are lying, lying outright ", said the Russian minister.
Lavrov said that "we never asked for any negotiations, but we always said that if someone is interested in a negotiated solution, we are ready to listen."
"And this is confirmed by the example I gave now when in March the Ukrainians asked to listen to them. We not only listened to them, but we were also ready to agree with them on the principles that they put forward themselves," said the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Source:
https://censor.net/en/n3384199
Russian Federation plans to hold positions in east and land corridor to occupied Crimea, - General Staff
For the Russian Federation, maintaining its positions in the east of Ukraine and the land corridor to the temporarily occupied Crimea remains a priority.
This was reported by the Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov, Censor.NET reports with reference to Ukrinform.
"The priority of the Russian Federation remains maintaining positions in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as the land corridor to the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," he said.
According to Hromov, Russia is concentrating its efforts on conducting offensive actions in the Bakhmut and Avdiivka areas, and in the Kupiansk, Lyman, Novopavlivka, and Orihiv areas, it is conducting active defense on captured lines.
The representative of the General Staff noted that during the week the invaders carried out offensive actions in the Kharkiv and Kupyan directions, but they did not succeed. The enemy also carried out several pretended missile and air strikes on the objects of the civil infrastructure of Ukraine.
Gromov emphasized the artillery and missile attacks on the populated areas of Ukraine from the territory of the Russian Federation. At the same time, according to him, armed provocations regarding violation of the state border are not excluded.
"We expect that the enemy will continue to maintain a military presence in the border areas to prevent the transfer of our troops to dangerous areas in the areas of active hostilities," said the representative of the General Staff. Source:
https://censor.net/en/n3384218