The Pentagon Building. File photoWASHINGTON, April 23 The Pentagon does not comment on Vladimir Zelensky's statement about the upcoming visit to Ukraine by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Earlier, Zelensky said that on Sunday he was expecting the arrival of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Ukraine, during the meeting it was planned to discuss the supply of weapons. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that pumping Ukraine with weapons from the West does not contribute to the success of the Russian- Ukrainian negotiations and will have a negative effect. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia. 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 Kyiv 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 Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, as of March 25, they have completed the main tasks of the first stage — they have significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
