MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. Western supplies of long-range weapons to Kiev will eventually force Moscow to push the Ukrainian army further back from its borders, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a Thursday interview with TV news anchor Dmitry Kiselyov. The top diplomat stressed that everyone would like to resolve the situation in Ukraine but it was the end result that mattered, not the timing. He also stated that the West sought to turn Moldova into "the next Ukraine," and assured that Russia would cope with the current situation on its own and would emerge stronger. TASS has put together Lavrov’s key remarks. On situation in Ukraine Everyone wants the conflict in Ukraine to end, but what matters is not the timing but "a quality end-result that we can secure for our nation, for those people who want to remain part of Russian culture and who have for years been deprived of all things Russian by the Kiev junta with Western connivance." "At this point, we are acting based on the principle proclaimed by our Western colleagues: victory should be won on the battlefield. This is their formula, and they were the ones who refused to negotiate." The minister himself stands "unequivocally for peace" and opposes the formula "if you want peace, prepare for war." "I share the idea that I would put this way: if you want peace, always be ready to defend yourself." Russia has not asked its allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for assistance: "We have everything we need <...> to achieve the goals of the special military operation."

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MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. Western supplies of long-range weapons to Kiev will eventually force Moscow to push the Ukrainian army further back from its borders, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a Thursday interview with TV news anchor Dmitry Kiselyov. The top diplomat stressed that everyone would like to resolve the situation in Ukraine but it was the end result that mattered, not the timing. He also stated that the West sought to turn Moldova into "the next Ukraine," and assured that Russia would cope with the current situation on its own and would emerge stronger. TASS has put together Lavrov’s key remarks. On situation in Ukraine Everyone wants the conflict in Ukraine to end, but what matters is not the timing but "a quality end-result that we can secure for our nation, for those people who want to remain part of Russian culture and who have for years been deprived of all things Russian by the Kiev junta with Western connivance." "At this point, we are acting based on the principle proclaimed by our Western colleagues: victory should be won on the battlefield. This is their formula, and they were the ones who refused to negotiate." The minister himself stands "unequivocally for peace" and opposes the formula "if you want peace, prepare for war." "I share the idea that I would put this way: if you want peace, always be ready to defend yourself." Russia has not asked its allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for assistance: "We have everything we need <...> to achieve the goals of the special military operation."