Russia's foreign minister says he believes only the West can decide when the war in Ukraine ends, given its support for Kyiv. Meanwhile, officials reported drone strikes on both sides of the border.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said he believes that the West, and not Ukraine, will decide the conditions for ending the war.
However, the minister said he did not think the West was presently interested in starting peace talks.
"We do not see the slightest interest on the part of either the United States or NATO to settle the Ukrainian conflict and listen to Russia's concerns," Lavrov said.
He also claimed the West had pushed Ukraine to use increasingly long-range weapons for strikes against targets deep inside Russia, although he proved no evidence of this.
Lavrov said Washington had proposed resuming "strategic stability" talks between the two countries about their respective nuclear arsenals.
However, he said the proposal was unacceptable to Russia because of the West's backing for Ukraine in the war, which is now approaching the end of its second year.
There were no grounds to discuss arms control while the West was conducting what he described as a "hybrid war" against Moscow, Lavrov said.
"We do not reject this idea for the future, but we precondition this possibility on the abandonment by the West of its policy of undermining and not respecting Russia's interests," said Lavrov.
Source: Dw
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