After ceasefire talks fail, Lavrov tells the world Russia did not attack Ukraine [View all]

[BeyondGeography]

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LVIV, Ukraine — The top diplomats from Ukraine and Russia failed to reach an agreement on Thursday to calm the fighting in Ukraine or even to ease the worsening humanitarian crisis, dashing hopes for a swift end to a two-week-old conflict that has killed hundreds and displaced millions.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting in the Turkish resort of Antalya, Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said that “we did not make progress” in reaching a cease-fire, but “agreed to continue efforts to seek a solution to the humanitarian issues on the ground.”

…But remarks by Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, indicated that Moscow’s position on the invasion it launched 14 days ago was far from softening.

“We are not planning to attack other countries,” he told a Turkish reporter. “We didn’t attack Ukraine, either.” He was repeating Russian claims that the country was forced to conduct a “special military operation” in Ukraine to assure its own security.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/03/09/world/ukraine-russia-war