The head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba called for more weapons and sanctions on Wednesday after Moscow announced it was expanding its offensive in Ukraine.
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“The Russians want blood, not negotiations. I call on all partners to strengthen sanctions against Russia and speed up arms deliveries to Ukraine,” Kouleba wrote on Twitter.
He was reacting to the announcement by his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that Moscow was no longer focusing “only” on eastern Ukraine and that talks between the two countries would make “no sense” in the current situation. The Russian offensive in Ukraine began on February 24.
“The Russian Foreign Minister’s confession of his dream of seizing more Ukrainian land proves that Russia rejects diplomacy and focuses on war and terror,” the Ukrainian minister continued.
Lavrov said on Wednesday that Russia’s military objectives in Ukraine were no longer limited only to the east of the country, but also concerned “other territories” and could still expand.
He justified the change by a “different geography” compared to the situation that existed on the ground at the end of March, when Moscow had said it wanted to focus on the east, after failing to take Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
Mr Lavrov also said that holding talks with kyiv would make “no sense in the current situation”, saying that previous contacts had “only revealed the lack of will on the part of the Ukrainian side to seriously discuss anything it would be”.
Moscow, which bombs cities across Ukraine, has made gains in the east of the country in recent weeks.
