"Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, emerged from seclusion to say he was ready to meet the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, to discuss the war in Ukraine and mending bilateral ties. It breaks a weeks-long absence of Lavrov from the public sphere after the collapse of attempts to stage a Putin-Trump summit in Hungary. Speaking to Russia's Ria state news agency, Lavrov signalled there was no change in Moscow's maximalist demands for Ukraine's capitulation."
"Lavrov appeared to be contradicted by the Kremlin after the reappearing foreign minister said work had begun on Vladimir Putin's order to prepare plans for a possible Russian nuclear test. Putin ordered officials to study the possibility of resuming nuclear testing after Donald Trump's statements that the US would begin immediately to match nuclear tests by China and Russia even though, like the US, neither is known to have exploded a nuclear bomb since the 1990s."
"On Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: Putin has repeatedly said that Russia is committed to its obligation to end nuclear tests, and that we have no intention [of conducting them]. Putin has said Russia would not conduct a nuclear test unless the US did so first. Ukrainian strikes disrupted power and heating to Voronezh and Belgorod large Russian cities near the Ukrainian border, Russian officials reported on Sunday."
Sergei Lavrov re-emerged from seclusion and said he was ready to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss the war in Ukraine and bilateral ties. Lavrov returned after a weeks-long absence following failed plans for a Putin-Trump summit in Hungary. Lavrov signalled Moscow's maximalist demands for Ukrainian capitulation and insisted peace requires taking Russian interests into account. He said work began on Vladimir Putin's order to prepare plans for a possible Russian nuclear test, after US statements about matching tests. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Russia's formal commitment to end nuclear tests. Ukrainian strikes disrupted power and heating in Voronezh, Belgorod and Kursk regions, including fires at energy facilities and damage to networks.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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