Ukraine war: Russia’s Lavrov says ready to expand war aims

BBC News:-

Russia’s military focus in Ukraine is no longer “only” the east, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

In an interview with Russian state media, he implied Moscow’s strategy had changed after the West supplied Ukraine with longer-range weapons.

Russia would now have to push Ukrainian forces further from the front line to ensure its own security, he explained.

His comments came as the US announced it would provide Ukraine with more long-range weapons.

Ukraine will receive another four Himars advanced rocket systems to hold the advance of Russian troops, bringing the total number to 16, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said.

Meanwhile Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska addressed US Congress on Wednesday, asking for more air-defence systems to “help us to stop this terror against Ukrainians”.

https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.44.17/iframe.htmlMedia caption,

Watch: ‘I’m asking for weapons’ – Ukraine’s First Lady addresses US Congress

Russia invaded Ukraine in February, claiming falsely that Russian-speakers in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region had suffered a genocide and needed to be liberated.

Five months on, Russia has occupied parts of the east and south of the country, but it failed in its original aim of capturing Kyiv and has since claimed its main objective was the liberation of Donbas.

The US has accused Russia of preparing to annex parts of Ukraine.

Since February, the West has supplied Ukraine with increasingly powerful weapons to use in its defence against Russian forces.

Mr Lavrov says that has forced Russia to expand its objectives further.

“We cannot allow the part of Ukraine controlled by [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky… to possess weapons that would pose a direct threat to our territory,” Mr Lavrov said in the interview with Margarita Simonyan – a well-known commentator on Russian TV and editor-in-chief of broadcaster RT.

“The geography is different now,” he said, naming the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions as Russia’s latest objectives. Moscow’s forces already occupy parts of both regions.