Lavrov commented on Putin’s health

In the interview, Lavrov also talked about taking over the eastern Ukrainian Donbass, describing it as an “unconditional priority”. Lavrov told the French broadcaster TF1 about the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops and battalions from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which Moscow recognizes as independent states, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The ministry posted the answers on its website on Sunday.

In other parts of Ukraine, where Russia is conducting a “military operation,” residents will have to decide their own future, Lavrov said. On the other hand, the government in Kiev expects a restricted referendum on the declaration of a “People’s Republic” in the Ukrainian region of Cherson, modeled on the pro-Russian separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

At the start of the war of aggression on February 24, Putin said that Moscow did not want to occupy the Ukrainian territories, but could see how the people behaved. In the interview, Lavrov again spoke about the “liberation” of the Donbass from the “Kiev regime”.

The foreign minister has repeatedly provoked outrage with his statements and comparisons. He reiterates that there are neo-Nazis in the Ukrainian government. Most recently, Lavrov’s comparisons with Hitler over the war in Ukraine provoked outrage in Israel. The federal government then withdrew. Government spokesman Stephen Hebrews called Lavrov’s statement “absurd.” He said in Berlin: “There is no need to comment further on the Russian campaign by Foreign Minister Lavrov in this case.”