Dmytro Kuleba, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, responded to the words of the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, about changing the "geographical objectives" of the war in Ukraine, and called on the world to strengthen sanctions against the Russian Federation and speed up the supply of weapons to Kyiv.

"By admitting to dreams of grabbing more Ukrainian land, the Russian Foreign Minister proved that Russia rejects diplomacy and focuses on war and terror. Russians want blood, not talks. I call on all partners to step up sanctions pressure on Russia and speed up arms deliveries to Ukraine," Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

Sergei Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, said in an interview with RT that the "geographical objectives" of the war had changed due to the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine; he threatened to seize new territories in the event that long-range weapons are supplied to Ukraine.

As previously reported, United States has information about Russia's preparations for the annexation of additional territories of Ukraine - in particular, Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. The U.S. warned that they would react "quickly and harshly" to this move by Moscow.