Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov claims Russia is ready for talks but will not halt military operations during talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has claimed that Russia is ready for talks with Ukraine but will not suspend military operations while negotiations are under way.

Source: Lavrov's remarks at a UN meeting on 23 September, a broadcast by a Kremlin-aligned Russian media TASS

Quote: "We will not pause the special military operation [Russia's official term for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine – ed.] for the duration of negotiations in any format, although Europe wants exactly that.

With the same simple aim – to gain breathing space and replenish the depleted military arsenals of the Kyiv regime [a term used by Russian propaganda to refer to the Ukrainian authorities – ed.], which out of desperation has long since resorted to openly terrorist methods."

Details: Lavrov also once again set out what he describes as the "objectives of the special military operation", including what he claims is the need to ensure Russia's security and protect the rights of "Russians and Russian-speaking people in Crimea, Donbas and on the territory of Ukraine", where, he alleged, the Russian language and church are "totally" banned.

Background:

• On 23 September, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a closed-door meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
• Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that during the talks Lavrov and Rubio discussed what it called "Kyiv's destructive actions, involving deliberate strikes on civilians and cross-border infrastructure, leading to destabilisation of global energy markets".
• The US State Department, for its part, said that Lavrov and Rubio discussed Russia's war against Ukraine as well as bilateral relations between the US and Russia.

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