'Russia Doesn't Seek A Regime Change In Ukraine': Lavrov

On Sunday, Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that the Russian special military operation in Ukraine does not seek to change this country's regime but to ensure the safety of people living in the Donbas region.

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"We do not want Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenski to surrender, but to order a cessation of hostilities so that we defeat the neo-Nazi movements, which pose a threat to our security," Lavrov stated.

He denied that Russian soldiers perpetrated a massacre in Bucha city, arguing that local authorities did not report any incidents when his country’s army withdrew from this city on March 30.

Lavrov recalled that attacks on the pro-Russian Ukrainians living in the Donbass region began under President Petro Porosenko’ administration (2014-2019) and that such a conflict could have been solved by Zelenski, whom declared himself a pacifist in his presidential campaign.

"Instead of applying the 2014 Minsk Accords to end once and for all this nightmare, Zelensky claimed that this peace agreement would mean the destruction of the Ukrainian state,” the Russian chancellor reproached.

He argued that the Western countries do not know the Russian government if they believe that it will yield under the pressure of politically-motivated economic sanctions. Lavrov also defended President Vladimir Putin’s decision to force countries maintaining hostile policies toward his administration to pay for Russian gas supplies in rubles.

“These nations prompted that Russian dollars and euros reserves in foreign banks were stolen, so now it's time for them to assume their responsibilities,” he stressed.