Kiev does not plan any offensive operations in the Donbass, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba. According to him, the country is only working to increase its defense capabilities.
“Ukraine is not planning any offensive operations, we are working exclusively on strengthening our defense capabilities, and here the US Congress remains our number one partner,” Mr. Kuleba said at a joint briefing with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the United States and Ukraine had spread misleading rumors about Russia’s allegedly planned invasion of Ukrainian territory so that Kiev would receive a pretext for its own offensive. Against the background of the escalation of the situation around Ukraine, in mid-January, negotiations between Russia and the United States, the Russia-NATO Council and consultations between Moscow and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe were held, at which global security issues were discussed.
For more information about the negotiations, see Kommersant’s article “Guests from Kiev frequented Sergei Lavrov.”