Lavrov: Russian Military Operation to Continue in Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister (FM) Sergey Lavrov announced that Russia’s special military operation will continue following talks with Ukraine in Istanbul.

However, he stated that Moscow remains open to facilitating humanitarian issues through diplomatic means.

According to Russia’s TASS news agency on Monday, Lavrov criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for failing to retrieve the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers in a timely manner, despite agreements reached during the Istanbul negotiations.

Earlier, Vladimir Medinsky, Assistant to the Russian President and head of the Russian delegation to the talks with Kyiv, stated that Russia had launched a humanitarian initiative involving the remains of 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

This initiative also included the exchange of prisoners of war and individuals under the age of 25, as outlined in the Istanbul agreements.

However, Medinsky claimed that “Moscow’s goodwill was met with silence from the Kyiv regime,” accusing Ukraine of indefinitely postponing the proposed exchange.