Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday at the G20 meeting in India that Russia did not attack anyone and was only defending itself against an attack on it through Ukraine. The moment when most of the people in the hall started laughing.

Sergey LavrovPhoto: Oleksandr Zemlanychenko / AP – The Associated Press / Profimedia

Lavorv looked confused for a few seconds, but continued his speech.

He said that Moscow does not need the help of former Soviet allies for its military campaign in Ukraine.

Lavrov said Russia has everything it needs for a conflict and has not asked members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) – the Moscow-led alliance that includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – to provide material support to Russia. calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, Reuters reports.

The head of the foreign policy department said on Thursday that Russian forces will respond to the supply of long-range Western weapons to Kiev in an attempt to push Ukrainian forces further from their borders to create a safe buffer zone.

In an interview with state television, Lavrov said that everyone wants the war in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation,” to end, but that Western support for Kyiv will play an important role in how Russia approaches the campaign.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met on Thursday for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in India. According to a representative of the US State Department, they spoke for less than 10 minutes, writes The Guardian.