Lavrov says Russia will not pause offensive for talks | Al Jazeera

Russia’s foreign minister has said Moscow will not pause its offensive for subsequent rounds of talks with Ukrainian officials.

Sergey Lavrov told state television he saw no reason not to continue the discussions but insisted Russia will not halt what it describes as its “special military operation” when the two sides convene again.

He said that Putin had ordered a suspension in military action during the first round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in late February but that Moscow’s position had changed since.

“After we became convinced that the Ukrainians were not planning to reciprocate, a decision was made that during the next rounds of talks, there would be no pause [in military action] so long as a final agreement is not reached,” Lavrov added.

-