Lavrov announced restrictions on Russian strikes and boasted about the capture of new settlements

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made a series of statements in which he attempted to justify the actions of the Russian military and explain the pace of the offensive in eastern Ukraine. 

Lavrov made these remarks in an interview with the Shanghai Media Group.

Lavrov claims that Russia is allegedly capable of capturing the Donetsk region, but “is not using all available means” in order to avoid causing excessive damage to territories inhabited by “Russians.”

“We are consistently carrying out the tasks of the special military operation. Putin has said more than once that we are not using the means we could use because we do not want to cause excessive damage to territories where mainly our people live…,” Sergey Lavrov stated.

In his remarks, the Russian minister reiterated the claim of allegedly protecting the population and spoke of “oppression” which, according to him, is being carried out in the occupied and frontline territories.

Lavrov also reported that in 2026, Russian troops allegedly captured about 80 Ukrainian settlements, 35 of which were taken in March and April.

According to him, “the process continues,” which he presented as confirmation of the continued advance of Russian forces.

The foreign ministers discussed the current international situation and the state of Russian-American relations as part of a “synchronization of positions.” 

As a reminder, prior to this, Russian dictator Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump held a telephone conversation. Putin used it to promote his own narratives regarding the war against Ukraine.