Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has said Moscow’s ultimate goal in Ukraine is to topple the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, an apparent pivot from the Kremlin’s earlier stance.
Lavrov made the comments in Egypt at the beginning of a tour of Africa, where the top diplomat has sought to raise support while downplaying Russia’s role in blocking grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
He told envoys at an Arab League summit in Cairo on Sunday that Moscow was determined to help Ukrainians “liberate themselves from the burden of this absolutely unacceptable regime.”
Minister Lavrov also said Kyiv and “its Western allies” were spreading propaganda intended to ensure that Ukraine “becomes the eternal enemy of Russia.”
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