Russia does not want war with Ukraine, Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.
“If it depends on Russia, there will be no war. We don’t want war,” the Russian foreign minister stated, adding that the West has exaggerated the situation by insisting that Russia will supposedly invade Ukraine.
However, the Russian minister has made it clear that Russia will not allow its interests to be ignored as Lavrov also said that he is due to meet again with his US counterpart Antony Blinken in the near future.
On Wednesday the State Department formally rejected Moscow’s demands, which included mainly a commitment not to allow Ukraine to join NATO and asked for a reduction of NATO troops on Bulgaria and Romania.
Moscow has made it clear that it considers these demands a “red line” and that there will be a reaction if they are not accepted. However, no details of the American response have been disclosed, apart from the fact that it was negative, nor has Russia stated what the next moves will be.
