A war in Donbas against Ukraine can and should be avoided, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Sputnik.
"If it depends on us and on the [Donbas] militias, as far as we can understand their principled approaches, then war can and should be avoided," Lavrov said, commenting on the likelihood of war in light of the fact that more than half a million Donbas residents received Russian citizenship.
“If we speak for the Ukrainian side, for the side of [President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, I will not try to guess, because according to external signs, the main thing for him is to stay in power, and he is ready to pay any price, including indulging neo-Nazis and ultra-radicals who continue to declare Donbas militias to be terrorists," Sputnik cited the Russian diplomat as saying.
