‘We will have to put the line even further’: Lavrov voices Russia’s claim on Ukrainian territories

Russia’s goals in Ukraine go beyond the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Russian state news agency RIA Novosti and RT.

“Now the geography is different. We’re not talking about the DPR, the LPR. We’re talking about Kherson Region, Zaporozhye Region [Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region] and a number of other territories, and this process is ongoing,” he said, quoted by RT.“It means that we will have to put the line even further,” he said.

When asked about the peace talks with Ukraine, Lavrov pointed out that “it makes no sense in the current situation”. According to him, the first rounds of the talks in Belarus “showed that Ukraine was unwilling to discuss anything seriously”.

The foreign minister also stressed that the start of the “special operation” was inevitable. He even felt “some kind of relief” after it started: “Because for many years, we couldn’t answer the question of these people, not just the people of Donbass, but many of our citizens too — how long? How long can they make a mockery of common sense, the people, the Security Council resolution, everything that was tied to it and that was blatantly sabotaged?”

In early July, Lavrov attended the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Indonesia. Lavrov mentioned the issues discussed during the meeting during the press conference on the outcomes of the talks. He pointed out “the duality of the West” when it comes to Ukraine.