Russia is not seeking to end the war in Ukraine before Victory Day on May 9, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Speaking to the Italian publication Mediaset, Lavrov said that Moscow would not rush to end the so-called “special military operation” on the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender to allied forces, including the then Soviet Union, in 1945.
“Our military will not artificially adjust their actions to any date, including before Victory Day,” Lavrov said in an interview.
“The pace of the operation in Ukraine depends, first of all, on the need to minimize any risks for the civilian population and Russian military personnel,” he added.
Russia usually celebrates Victory Day with a large military parade in downtown Moscow and a speech by President Vladimir Putin praising the country’s leading role in defeating fascism in Europe. But this year’s celebrations will take place against the backdrop of Moscow’s bloody war in Ukraine, which Putin justifies by saying that the former Soviet country needs “denazification.”
“We will celebrate May 9 as always. We will remember those who fell for the liberation of Russia and other republics in the post-Soviet space, for the liberation of Europe from the Nazi plague, ”BGNES quotes Lavrov.
Thousands of civilians were killed and millions displaced by the Russian invasion that began on 24 February.