Russia not seeking to end Ukraine war by May 9 ‘Victory Day’, Lavrov says
- Russia’s Sergey Lavrov says Moscow’s forces will not artificially adjust their actions to any date
- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says 23,000 Russian soldiers have been killed so far
Russia is not looking to end its war in Ukraine by Victory Day on May 9, its foreign minister said, as the country looks set to mark the key anniversary under the cloud of a deadly conflict.
Speaking with Italian outlet Mediaset, Sergey Lavrov insisted Moscow would not rush to wrap up its so-called “special military operation” in time for the anniversary, which celebrates 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 Victory Day,” Lavrov said in the interview released Sunday.
“The pace of the operation in Ukraine depends, first of all, on the need to minimise any risks for the civilian population and Russian military personnel,” he added.
Russia typically marks Victory Day in grand style, with a large military parade in central Moscow and a speech by President Vladimir Putin hailing the country’s leading role in the defeat of fascism in Europe.
But this year’s celebrations will come against the backdrop of Moscow’s bloody military campaign in Ukraine, which Putin has justified with claims the ex-Soviet country requires “denazification” and other allusions to World War II.
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“We will solemnly celebrate May 9, as we always do. Remember those who fell for the liberation of Russia and other republics of the former USSR, for the liberation of Europe from the Nazi plague,” Lavrov said.
Russia’s military has turned its focus to Ukraine’s south and east after failing to capture Kyiv in the early weeks of a war that has flattened cities, killed thousands of civilians and forced more than 5 million to flee the country.
Moscow has said that over a thousand of its soldiers have been killed in the operation. Ukraine claims Russia’s losses are much higher.
In a Saturday night video address, the Ukrainian leader said that more than a thousand Russian tanks and almost 2,500 other military vehicles were also destroyed.
On Sunday, US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi urged Ukraine not to back down in the face of “bullies” like Russia, following a surprise weekend visit to Kyiv.
“Do not be bullied by bullies. If they are making threats, you cannot back down. That’s my view of it,” she told a news conference in the Polish city of Rzeszow, a day after talks in the Ukrainian capital with Zelensky.
“We are here for the fight and you cannot fold to a bully.”
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Her unannounced trip to Kyiv made her the most senior US official to visit the Ukrainian capital to date, following visits by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin last month.
“We are visiting you to say thank you for your fight for freedom … Our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done,” Pelosi told Zelensky when they met, footage of which was released by his office.
Last week, Biden proposed a US$33 billion package for arming and supporting Ukraine, and Pelosi said Washington was “already passing into legislation the initiatives” he had raised.
In his interview with Mediaset, Lavrov said that Nato and the EU have accepted Washington’s dominance.
“Both Nato and the European Union have resigned themselves to the fact that their ‘master of the house’ is in Washington,” Lavrov said. “And in Washington they have decided that the world must now be monopolar, they talk about that all the time.”
Agence France-Presse, Reuters, dpa
