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Lavrov reiterated that Russia does not seek a “regime change” in the neighboring country, and then stressed that such a measure is the specialty of the United States worldwide.
The Russian government urges Zelensky to order Ukrainian neo-Nazis to stop violence against civilians in order to bring about the circumstances for peace.
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"Now, Zelensky can also bring peace, if he stops giving criminal orders to his neo-Nazi battalions, forces them to let all civilians go and ceases resistance," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed.
In statements made during an interview with the Italian Mediaset channel, published on Sunday, the Russian Foreign Minister called on the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to allow all civilians to leave and stop resisting the Russian forces.
Lavrov reiterated that Russia does not seek a “regime change” in the neighboring country, and then stressed that such a measure is the specialty of the United States worldwide.
In this framework, he made it clear that the Russian operation is aimed at demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine in order to avoid threats to the security of Russia and eastern Ukraine.
⚡️ The Russian Federation does not require Zelenskyi to surrender, but “he must order an end the resistance,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the Italian TV company Mediaset.
— Flash (@Flash43191300) May 1, 2022
He also added that Moscow has no goal to change the Kyiv regime. pic.twitter.com/28D2Cg587H
He has then attributed the "collapse of the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian state" to the fact that Zelensky arrogantly declared in public that he will never fulfill the Minsk agreements. "All those who drafted and approved the Minsk agreements in the UN Security Council have remained silent," he has lamented.
He also emphasized that the pace of the Russian special operation in Ukraine will depend on the need to minimize the risks for the civilian population of the country and the Russian military, while he pointed out that the Russian forces do not adjust their mission to any date.
FM Sergey Lavrov's wide-ranging interview; history of the current conflict in Ukraine; US and Russia relationship; Zelensky and peace talks; Nato expansion onto Russian borders; west weapons supply to Ukraine; Ukrainian ultranationalist, etc.https://t.co/NELsGVHtH0
— Marek Peter Kaziniec (@MarekPKaziniec) April 27, 2022
Since the beginning of the Russian military operation in Ukraine at the end of last February, the Ukrainian and Russian delegations have held several rounds of talks.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also made it known on April 20 that the Russian government has delivered a proposal for an agreement with concrete wording to Ukraine to achieve peace and is awaiting the Ukrainian side's response.
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