Russia's foreign minister said Friday that the U.S. sought out and respected Moscow's positions in Syria when it launched its air strikes last week.
Lavrov noted that despite the escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington, the U.S. made sure it didn't harm any Russian personnel and positions during the strikes against the regime of President Bashar Assad following a suspected chemical attack on the town of Douma.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 19, 2018. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
"We told them where our red lines were, including the geographical red lines," Lavrov told Russian state television. "The results have shown that they haven't crossed those lines."
Moscow had warned the U.S. before the strike that it could hit back if the U.S. actions jeopardize Russian servicemen in Syria, and the allies had given Russia an advance warning to make sure no Russians were in the line of fire.
Lavrov also revealed that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed the possibility of visiting each other's country when the U.S. president rang up Russian counterpart last month to congratulate him on his re-election.
Lavrov that Trump indicated he could make a reciprocal trip to Russia if Putin were able to accept his invitation to the White House.
Previously, both the White House and the Kremlin had only revealed that Trump had invited Putin to the White House during the same call on March 20.
Lavrov says the Trump administration hasn't followed up on the offer and Russia has urged the U.S. to discuss specifics about such a meeting.
He added that Russian officials "don't want to be too obtrusive, but don't want to be impolite."
"President Putin is ready for such a meeting," Lavrov said.
Moscow's hopes for better ties with Washington under Trump have withered amid the ongoing investigations into the alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Russia-U.S. relations have sunk to post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and the allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
In recent weeks, tensions have risen further over the March poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter, which Britain has blamed on Russia. The U.S., Britain and other Western allies responded by expelling over 150 Russian diplomats, and Moscow, which has fervently denied the British accusations, responded in kind.
Further stoking tensions was the purported chemical attack in Douma on April 7. That prompted the U.S., Britain and France to launch a missile strike on Syria. Russia condemned the strike on its ally as an "act of aggression."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during his meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl in Moscow, Russia, Friday, April 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
The Pentagon said that all 105 missiles fired at three Syrian chemical facilities reached their targets, while the Russian military said Syrian air defenses downed 71 out of 103 U.S. missiles.
Lavrov, who said Russia will soon offer evidence to back up its claims, added that Moscow may reconsider a pledge it gave a decade ago not to provide Syria with sophisticated long-range S-300 missiles in light of the strikes.
"We no longer have such moral obligations," Lavrov said.
Asked about the danger of a Russia-U.S. military clash, Lavrov voiced hope that military leaders realize that "any actions that could provoke a direct clash between the Russian and the U.S. militaries are unacceptable."
"I'm 100 percent convinced that the military won't allow it," Lavrov said, adding that the Russian and U.S. presidents also "bear responsibility before the people which elected them for peace and security."
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian missile strike that smashed a prominent skyline television tower in Kharkiv was part of the Kremlin’s effort to intimidate Ukraine’s second-largest city, which in recent weeks has come under increasingly frequent attack.
The strike sought to “make the terror visible to the whole city and to try to limit Kharkiv’s connection and access to information,” Zelenskyy said in a Monday evening address.
The northeastern Kharkiv region straddles the approximately 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line where Ukrainian and Russian forces have been locked in battle for more than two years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The front line has changed little during a war of attrition, focused mostly on artillery, drones and trenches.
Since late March, Russia has stepped up the pressure on Kharkiv, apparently aiming to exploit Ukraine’s shortage of air defense systems. It has pounded the local power grid and hit apartment blocks.
On Monday, a Russian Kh-59 missile struck Kharkiv’s 250-meter (820-foot) -high TV tower, breaking it roughly in half and halting transmissions.
A Washington think tank said Russia may be eyeing a ground assault on Kharkiv.
“The Kremlin is conducting a concerted air and information operation to destroy Kharkiv City, convince Ukrainians to flee, and internally displace millions of Ukrainians ahead of a possible future Russian offensive operation against the city or elsewhere in Ukraine,” the Institute for the Study of War said in an assessment.
The expected arrival in Ukraine in coming weeks of new military aid from its Western partners possibly has prompted Russia to escalate its attacks before the help arrives, the ISW said, adding that trying to capture Kharkiv would be “a significant challenge” for the Kremlin’s forces.
Instead, the Russian military command “may attempt to destroy Kharkiv City with air, missile, and drone strikes and prompt a large-scale internal displacement of Ukrainian civilians,” it said.
The U.S. Senate was returning to Washington on Tuesday to vote on $61 billion in war aid to Ukraine after months of delays. Zelensky said U.S. President Joe Biden assured him the aid would include long-range and artillery capabilities.
“Four priorities are key: defense of the sky, modern artillery, long-range capacity, and to ensure that packages of American aid arrive as soon as possible,” Zelenskyy said.
Also Tuesday, Britain pledged 500 million pounds ($620 million, 580 million euros) in new military supplies for Ukraine, including 400 vehicles, 60 boats, 1,600 munitions and 4 million rounds of ammunition.
The shipment will also include British Storm Shadow long-range missiles, which have a range of about 150 miles (240 kilometers) and have proven effective at hitting Russian targets, the British government said.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke with Zelenskyy on Tuesday morning to confirm the new assistance. He was due to announce the aid later Tuesday during a visit to Warsaw where he was meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Less cheering news came from the European Union, however. EU countries that have Patriot air defense systems gave no clear sign Monday that they might be willing to send them to Ukraine, which is desperately seeking at least seven of the missile batteries.
Ukraine’s army is also heavily outnumbered in the fight, and expanding the country’s mobilization has been a delicate issue.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Tuesday signaled that authorities plan to clamp down on young men of conscription age who have moved abroad, with details of the specific measures to be made public soon.
“Staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his or her duties to the homeland,” Kuleba said on the social media platform X.
Meanwhile, Russia launched 16 Shahed drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles over Ukraine’s southern and central regions, the Ukrainian air force said Tuesday morning. It said all but one of the drones were intercepted.
In Odesa, an overnight attack injured nine people, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said. Among those injured were two infants and two children aged nine and 12, Kiper said. City mayor Hennadii Trukhanov said 58 apartments in 22 buildings were damaged.
In other developments:
A Russian missile strike near Dnipro, Ukraine’s fourth-largest city, injured four people who were admitted to hospital, regional Gov. Serhii Lysak said.
Russian forces dropped a guided aerial bomb in Kostiantynivka, a city in the eastern Donetsk region, injuring five people who were riding in a car, police said. Two of them were in critical conditions.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this photo provided by the Mayor of Odesa Hennadii Trukhanov in Telegram, residents gather outside of an apartment block after a Russian drone attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Mayor of Odesa Hennadii Trukhanov via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a search dog with its handler look for survivors after a Russian drone attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Mayor of Odesa Hennadii Trukhanov in Telegram, a view of the damage after a Russian drone attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Mayor of Odesa Hennadii Trukhanov via AP)
In this photo provided by the Mayor of Odesa Hennadii Trukhanov in Telegram, a view of the damage after a Russian drone attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Mayor of Odesa Hennadii Trukhanov via AP)
In this photo provided by the Mayor of Odesa Hennadii Trukhanov in Telegram, firefighters work on the site of a damaged building after a Russian drone attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Mayor of Odesa Hennadii Trukhanov via AP)
In this photo provided by the Mayor of Odesa Hennadii Trukhanov in Telegram, firefighters work on the site of a burning building after a Russian drone attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Mayor of Odesa Hennadii Trukhanov via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency service psychologist, right, comforts women at the scene of a building that was damaged by night Russian drone attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency service psychologist, left, comforts a woman at the scene of a building that was damaged by night Russian drone attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
This photo, provided by head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration Oleh Kiper, firefighters work on the site of a damaged building after a Russian drone attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration Oleh Kiper via AP)
A view of the television tower broken in half after it was hit by a Russian missile in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
A view of the television tower, broken in half after it was hit by a Russian missile in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
People look at fragments of the television tower which was broken in half after it was hit by a Russian missile in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
