Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on Tuesday that a new phase of the special operation in Ukraine has begun.
He also said that Moscow has no plans to press for regime change in Kiev.
"We are not up for regime change in Ukraine," Lavrov said in his interview with broadcaster India Today.
The diplomat stressed that Russia had no other choice but to start the operation, as Ukrainian forces had intensified attacks in Donbass, prompting mass evacuations of civilians from the region and forcing the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics to ask Moscow for help.
Once again, Lavrov stated that the Russian forces are targeting only Ukrainian military infrastructure. He said that Moscow is considering only the option of using conventional weapons during the military operation in at this stage
Military hardware is pictured in Bugas, Donetsk People's Republic. Tension began to escalate in Donbass on 17 February, with the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic reporting the most intense shellfire in months. Early on 24 February, Russia's President Putin announced his decision to launch a special military operation in response to requests from the leaders of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic.
© Sputnik / Viktor Antonyk
/ The minister also mentioned that Russia had changed the positioning of its forces in Ukraine after the Istanbul talks as a gesture of good will and commitment to peace. But this was not respected properly by Kiev, as Ukrainian authorities immediately staged a provocation in Bucha in a bid to slander Russia.
Russia launched its special operation back in February, aiming to stop the eight-year-long war in Donbass waged by Kiev. President Vladimir Putin called the conflict, which claimed thousands of lives, a genocide, and stressed that Russia's goals are the de-Nazification and demilitarisation of Ukraine.