Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut CavusogluMOSCOW, March 14Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed by phone the situation around Ukraine in the context of assisting in the return of citizens of this country to Turkey, the Russian Foreign Ministry told reporters. Earlier, a RIA Novosti source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry noted that Cavusoglu during telephone conversations with the Russian his colleague Lavrov discussed the latest developments in Ukraine on Monday.»On March 14, in the development of the Russian-Turkish talks held in Antalya, the foreign ministers of the two countries had a telephone conversation,» the Russian Foreign Ministry said. «The situation around Ukraine was considered, including in the context of Russian military assistance in the safe return to Turkey of the citizens of this country,» the ministry added. «Turkish colleagues were also recommended to appeal to the Ukrainian side with a call not to obstruct the humanitarian corridors organized for the evacuation of the civilian population,» the Russian Foreign Ministry noted. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops. With the support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. But the occupation of Ukraine is out of the question, the President of Russia emphasized.
