Sergei Lavrov spoke at a meeting of the UN Security Council called by Russia and blamed the West for the lack of peace talks, saying that Russia was always “ready to negotiate”. However, Lavrov made it clear that Russia is only interested in talks that lead to the removal of the current Ukrainian government from power, confirming that Moscow is still officially seeking regime change in Ukraine. He continued to deny the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine, saying that the Ukrainian people were not interested in a war with Russia and that the West had pushed Ukraine to continue the conflict.

All information about the war in Ukraine – day 699 – LIVE on HotNews.ro:

07:32 Russia launched a missile attack on Kiev and the region around the capital, a Ukrainian military official said on Tuesday. “Air defense has worked in Kyiv,” Serhii Popko, head of the city’s military administration, wrote in Telegram.

The military administration in the Kyiv region also announced that anti-aircraft defenses were used to repulse the Russian missile strike.

07:07 Imprisoned Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who complained of poisoning, assault and denial of proper medical care, said Monday that he faced a new challenge: being forced to listen to a famous pro-Putin pop singer at 5:00 a.m. every morning

A brief summary of recent events:

• Tiraspol announces a large-scale protest against Chisinau. The authorities of Transnistria announced on Monday that they are preparing for a large-scale protest action, scheduled for Wednesday, January 24, directed against the “economic pressure of Chisinau”.
• ISW: Russia is trying to destabilize the Republic of Moldova and justify a possible escalation in the region. Russian troops stationed in Transnistria violated several provisions of their status on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.
• Donald Tusk during his first visit to Kyiv: Russia’s war against Ukraine is a struggle “between good and evil”.
• Romanian Foreign Minister Luminica Odobescu after meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg: Alliances are aware of the geostrategic role of the Black Sea. What does this say about the risk of war with Russia.
• The EU will block the export of Ukrainian agricultural products if they flood the markets of neighboring countries, such as Poland or Romania.
• Ukraine’s foreign ministry on Monday ruled out any concession of territory to Russia, a move proposed as a “compromise” by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico days before he was due to meet his counterpart in Kyiv.
• “Giving a new impetus to the supply of weapons to Ukraine is absolutely unacceptable. The EU should rather open communication channels for the start of peace negotiations,” said the head of Hungarian diplomacy, Peter Szijarto.
• The head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Serhii Naryshkin, on Monday accused the United States of pursuing a policy of “total vassalage” over Ukraine and forming a “colonial administration” in Kyiv.
• The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, ridicules Trump’s “miracles” regarding Ukraine: “We could not find a magic formula”
• AFP report: In the name of “peace”: thousands of Russians mobilize for a candidate who challenges Putin. In a rare sight, hundreds of Muscovites are queuing to support a former liberal lawmaker who is gathering signatures to become a “peaceful” candidate against Vladimir Putin in the March 15-17 presidential election.
• Hungary is starting voluntary military training for civil servants, Hungarian Minister of National Defense Krzysztof Szalay-Bobrovnytskyi announced on Monday in a video posted on his Facebook page.
• The Turkish parliament will vote on Sweden’s NATO membership this week, Turkish media reported, and a parliamentary source told AFP that ratification could take place on Thursday.
• On Monday, Zelensky thanked Ukrainians living abroad for their support during the Russian invasion and announced that he would propose amending the country’s constitution to allow dual citizenship.

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• Monday’s events related to Russian aggression were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro