The Kremlin will not halt its military operations in Ukraine should the two sides reengage in peace talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
Lavrov’s remarks, which he made in an interview on Russian media, come more than six weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Russia has failed to achieve its main objective, taking control of the capital of Kyiv, and has altered its plans to focus more significantly on the southeastern region of Ukraine, where the two sides have been in conflict for years.
“After we became convinced that the Ukrainians were not planning to reciprocate, a decision was made that during the next rounds of talks, there would be no pause [in military action] so long as a final agreement is not reached,” he explained, according to Reuters.
Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the suspension of military action during the first round of negotiations in late February.
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Last week, Lavrov said a Ukrainian peace proposal was “unacceptable,” and he accused Ukrainian leaders of undermining the talks. Ukrainian leaders have said they’re committed to the talks but have refused to compromise on its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
More recently, the Kremlin tapped Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, who commands Russia’s southern military district and was infamous for his brutal campaigns in Syria, to achieve Moscow’s new top goal: conquering Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. A senior U.S. defense official confirmed to reporters on Monday that the Kremlin picked the “butcher of Syria” to lead its latest offensive.
“I wouldn’t say we know for certain that this new general is going to be the author of some additional and more bloody tactics, but we can certainly say by what we’ve seen … that we’re probably turning another page in the same book of Russian brutality,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday.
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Russian forces are “working to reinforce their capabilities and to add to it” via an 8-mile convoy that includes a “command and control element, a support battalion, basically enablers, perhaps rotary-wing aviation support, and other infantry support,” the official explained.
