Russia not looking to end Ukraine war by Victory Day-FM
RUSSIA,UKRAINE,BELGIUM: Russia is not looking to end its war in Ukraine by Victory Day on May 9, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, as the country looks set to mark the key anniversary under the cloud of a deadly conflict.
Speaking with Italian outlet Mediaset, Lavrov insisted Moscow would not rush to wrap up its so-called “special military operation” in time for the anniversary, which celebrates Nazi Germany’s surrender to allied forces—including the then Soviet Union—in 1945.
“Our military will not artificially adjust their actions to any date, including Victory Day,” Mr. Lavrov said in the interview released Sunday.
“The pace of the operation in Ukraine depends, first of all, on the need to minimise any risks for the civilian population and Russian military personnel,” he added.
Russia typically marks Victory Day in grand style, with a large military parade in central Moscow and a speech by President Vladimir Putin hailing the country’s leading role in the defeat of fascism in Europe.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday met with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Kyiv as Russia’s aggression against its neighbour entered its 67th day. Pelosi was accompanied by a fellow senior Representatives Adam Schiff, Jason Crow and Jim McGovern, news agency AP reported. Zelensky also released a video of their meeting on Twitter in which the leaders can be seen walking in the streets with heavy security, and Pelosi can be heard as saying, “we believe that we are visiting you to say thank you for your fight for freedom. We are on a frontier of freedom and your fight is a fight for everyone. Our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done”.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv is studying the possibility of obtaining security guarantees from members of the UN Security Council (UNSC), including China.
In an interview with China’s state-owned Xinhua news agency, Kuleba said the Budapest Memorandum on security assurances has failed to guarantee real security to Ukraine. According to Kuleba, security in Europe will improve when Russia withdraws its troops from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Freign Minister told Xinhua that Kyiv is now exploring possibilities of obtaining security guarantees from UNSC permanent members and other major powers, including China, and is offering Beijing to become one of Ukraine’s security guarantors.
– THE HINDUSTAN TIMES, ANI