Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country’s military objectives in Ukraine extended beyond the eastern Donbass region as Russian forces shelled southern and eastern Ukraine, according to state media.
In an interview published by state news agency RIA Novosti on Wednesday, Lavrov said that as Russia and Ukraine discussed a possible deal to end hostilities, “our willingness to accept the Ukrainian proposal was based on the geography of March 2022.”
“The geography is different now. It’s not just about DNR and LNR,” Lavrov added, referring to the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR), Russian-backed entities in eastern Ukraine.
“But also the Kherson region, the Zaporizhia region and a number of other areas,” he said. “This process continues, consistently and persistently.”
Lavrov is the highest-ranking Russian official to speak openly about Moscow’s territorial war aims [File: Yuri Kochetkov/Pool via AP Photo]
His comments came after the United States said it had seen signs Moscow was preparing to officially annex areas it has seized in its neighbor.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba countered that Russia rejects diplomacy and wants “blood, not talks.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, meanwhile, accused Russia of “blackmailing” the European Union on energy as she unveiled a plan to cut gas demand in the bloc ahead of a feared disruption in supplies by Russia when the winter seam.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier warned that gas supplies to Europe via the huge Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which has been closed for maintenance for 10 days, risk being cut further.
Russia’s war aims expand
Lavrov is the senior figure to speak openly about Russia’s territorial war aims, nearly five months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the February 24 invasion with the stated goal of “demilitarizing and denazifying” the country — a statement which was rejected by Western countries as a pretext for an imperial expansionist war.
At the time, Putin had declared that his country did not want to occupy any Ukrainian territories.
After failing to capture the capital Kyiv, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on March 25 that the first phase of what Moscow calls its “military special operation” had been completed and it would now focus on “achieving the main objective, the liberation of Donbass”.
Almost four months later, it has captured Luhansk, one of two provinces that make up Donbass — but is far from capturing the entire other Donetsk province.
While Russian forces have already seized territory far beyond the Donbass, particularly in the southern regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson, and continue to launch rocket attacks on cities across Ukraine, the Institute for War Research described Lavrov’s comments as “remarkably detached from the slow and grueling reality of recent Russian operations”.
The think tank provides daily updates on the situation on the ground and has previously stated that Russia has territorial ambitions beyond Donbass.
In his interview, Lavrov also reiterated previous claims by Russia that the US and UK – two of the Western countries that have provided military aid to Ukraine – are interested in escalating hostilities.
“They want to turn this into a real war and provoke a clash between Russia and European countries,” Lavrov said.
He also accused the US of blocking Ukraine from opening talks on a possible deal with Russia.
“They discourage them from taking constructive steps and not only pump in weapons, but force them to use those weapons in increasingly risky ways,” Lavrov said.
Ukrainian soldiers fire SPG-9 recoilless guns during training in the Kharkiv region [Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo]
Annexation warning
Meanwhile, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said in Washington the Donbass region has not yet been lost to Russian forces.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a meeting of allies that the United States will send four more HIMARS artillery systems to Ukraine as part of its latest military aid to Kyiv.
The Ukrainian military reported heavy and sometimes deadly Russian shelling amid what they described as largely failed attempts by Russian ground forces to advance.
Citing US intelligence, White House national security spokesman John Kirby previously accused Russia of laying the groundwork for the annexation of Ukrainian land it has seized since the war began. The Russian embassy in Washington said the comment misjudged what Moscow was trying to do.
Russia’s invasion has killed thousands, displaced millions and leveled cities, particularly in the Russian-speaking areas of eastern and southeastern Ukraine. It has also raised global energy and food prices and fueled fears of starvation in poorer countries, as Ukraine and Russia are both big grain producers.
Europe is preparing for a gas disruption
In Brussels, a meeting of EU diplomats agreed on more sanctions against Russia targeting gold as well as more individuals and organizations, a person involved in the talks told R.
The sanctions, due to take effect on Thursday, included blacklisting more people and organizations blamed for the war, said the Czech Republic, which is now leading talks between the 27 EU nations.
In view of the uncertainty about the planned restart of Nord Stream 1 on Thursday, the EU proposed to its member countries to reduce gas demand by 15 percent by spring.
The executive commission warned that without deep cuts, members could be scrambling for fuel in the winter when Russia halts supplies in retaliation for the bloc’s support for Ukraine, and said the target could be made mandatory in an emergency.
“Russia is blackmailing us. Russia uses energy as a weapon,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, describing a complete disruption to Russian gas flows as “a likely scenario” for which “Europe must be ready”.
Putin said Nord Stream 1’s capacity could be reduced due to problems with other pumping units, one of which would have to be sent for maintenance on July 26. He said Russian energy giant Gazprom is ready to meet its commitments on gas exports.
Gazprom last month cut exports through the route to 40 percent of capacity, citing delays in returning a turbine being serviced by Siemens Energy in Canada, which initially banned the equipment from being returned, citing sanctions.
Putin said on Wednesday it was not clear in what condition the turbine would be returned after repairs in Canada and that there was a risk the equipment would be shut down, halting the flow of gas through Nord Stream 1.
Russia, the world’s largest gas exporter, has denied Western accusations of using its energy supplies as a means of coercion, saying it has been a reliable energy supplier.