Ukraine crisis: Russia never wanted war, says FM

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Moscow has never wanted war and seeks to end the ongoing conflict.

During a press conference following a meeting with his Ukrainian and Turkish counterparts, Dmitry Kuleba and Mevlut Cavusoglu, Lavrov pointed out that Moscow was ready to discuss security guarantees for Kyiv, according to TASS News Agency.

Lavrov added that he did not rule out the possibility of a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Vladimir Zelensky of Ukraine and did not expect a conflict involving nuclear weapons to break out.

The war between Russia and Ukraine crossed 16 days on Friday.

At least 80,000 civilians have been evacuated from Sumy, Kyiv oblasts in two days, according to the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Russia may use chemical weapons in Ukraine terming it’s “straight out of their playbook”.

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On the other hand, French President Emmanuel Macron is planning to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the next 48 hours amid the third week of war between Moscow and Kyiv, Sputnik reported.

• Europe