He said the agreements “contain nothing that would prevent us from continuing the special military operation and destroying military infrastructure and other military targets." The foreign minister also planned to visit Uganda and Ethiopia in what was seen as an effort to bolster African support for Russia, especially for any upcoming U.N. “We haven't created any obstacles to grain deliveries in accordance with the agreements signed in Istanbul,” Lavrov said.
He said the attack took part in the military section of the port at “a significant distance” from the grain terminal.
During a visit to the Republic of Congo on Monday, Lavrov repeated the Russian military claim that the strike targeted a Ukrainian navy boat and a depot with Harpoon anti-ship missiles supplied by the West. While Russia faced accusations that the weekend attack on the port of Odesa amounted to reneging on the deal, Moscow insisted the strike would not affect grain shipments. The deals are aimed at clearing the way for the shipment of millions of tons of desperately needed Ukrainian grain, as well as the export of Russian grain and fertilizer. It was not yet clear when grain shipments would resume following Russia and Ukraine's signing of agreements with the United Nations and Turkey on Friday. “The West insists that Ukraine must not start negotiations until Russia is defeated on the battlefield,” Lavrov said. He said the West has encouraged Ukraine to keep fighting. Lavrov argued that Russia was ready to negotiate a deal to end hostilities in March when Kyiv changed tack and declared its intention to rout Russia on the battlefield. Russia later retreated from around the capital and turned its attention to capturing the Donbas. Lavrov's remarks contrasted with the Kremlin's line early in the war, when it repeatedly emphasized that Russia wasn't seeking to overthrow President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government, even as Moscow's troops closed in on Kyiv. Speaking to envoys at an Arab League summit in Cairo late Sunday, Lavrov accused Kyiv and its Western allies of spouting propaganda intended to ensure that Ukraine “becomes the eternal enemy of Russia.” “We are determined to help the people of eastern Ukraine to liberate themselves from the burden of this absolutely unacceptable regime,” he said.Īpparently suggesting that Moscow's war aims to extend beyond Ukraine's industrial Donbas region in the east, Lavrov said: "We will certainly help the Ukrainian people to get rid of the regime, which is absolutely anti-people and anti-historical.” Lavrov's comments followed his warning last week that Russia plans to retain control over broader areas beyond eastern Ukraine, including the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south, and will make more gains elsewhere. The remark from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov comes amid Ukraine's efforts to resume grain exports from its Black Sea ports, something that would help ease global food shortages, under a new deal tested by a Russian strike on Odesa over the weekend.
BATTLEFIELD 4 WALLPAPER NAVAL STRIKE FREE
Russia's top diplomat said Moscow's overarching goal in Ukraine is to free its people from its “unacceptable regime,” expressing the Kremlin's war aims in some of the bluntest terms yet as its forces pummel the country with artillery barrages and airstrikes.