Putin could discuss specific issues with Zelenskyy: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

Sergei Lavrov. Pic/AFP

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday he did not believe the conflict in Ukraine would spiral into a nuclear war but cautioned the United States and Europe that Moscow never again wanted to be dependent on the West.

Asked by a Kremlin correspondent for Russia's Kommersant newspaper if he thought a nuclear war could be triggered, Lavrov told reporters in Turkey, "I don't want to believe, and I do not believe, that a nuclear war could start."

Lavrov is in Antalya, Turkey for talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.

Kuleba told reporters after their meeting the most critical situation was in the southern port of Mariupol but that Lavrov did not commit to a humanitarian corridor there and there was no progress on agreeing a wider ceasefire.

At a separate news conference, Lavrov said President Vladimir Putin would not refuse a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss "specific" issues.

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