Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on Tuesday that Russian forces have launched the next phase of the special military operation in Ukraine.
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The foreign minister told international media: “As previously announced, the operation in eastern Ukraine is aimed at the complete liberation of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics. This operation continues, the next phase of this special operation begins now.” .
Similarly, Lavrov added that this stage is fundamental and crucial for the development of the special military operation, in which the armed forces are preparing to use only conventional weapons.
The high-ranking diplomat also asserted with regard to Ukraine’s self-determination: “We want the Ukrainians to decide for themselves how they want to continue their lives. We want people to have free choice.”
Earlier, the Russian government stressed that it will fully fulfill the goals originally set in the special operation, while ratifying that the military installations only represent the points of the offensive.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry has taken up the suggestion that Ukrainian army troops remaining at the Azovstal Metallurgical Plant in Mariupol lay down their arms.
In this sense, the head of the Russian National Center for Defense Management, Colonel-General Mijaíl Mizíntsev, reiterated “to guarantee the preservation of life and respect for all the norms of the Geneva Convention regarding the treatment of prisoners of war, as was the case with his comrades who had previously surrendered in Mariupol”.