Ukraine Russia Conflict: Russia does not want war in Europe, says Lavrov

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow did not want war in Europe, but that Western countries were keen to see Russia defeated in its military campaign in Ukraine.

“If you are worried about the prospect of war in Europe - we do not want that at all,” Mr Lavrov said.

“But I draw your attention to the fact that it is the West that is constantly and persistently saying that in this situation, it is necessary to defeat Russia. Draw your own conclusions.”

Meanwhile, Russia on 24th February launched its invasion of Ukraine. And, according to the latest updates, Ukrainian forces have retaken villages in the Kharkiv region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said in his nightly address. The number of civilians killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war is “thousands higher” than official figures, the head of the UN’s human rights monitoring mission in the country said. At least 100 civilians remained in the Azovstal steelworks under heavy Russian fire in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, an aide to the city’s mayor said.

However, Belarus has said it will deploy special operations troops in three areas near its southern border with Ukraine. The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, said Moscow had agreed to help Minsk produce missiles and warned Belarus could “inflict unacceptable damage on the enemy”.