Smoke from the airport in Dnipro, eastern Ukraine, April 10, 2022 (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Lavrov said Moscow will only use conventional weapons during the new phase in Ukraine. He insisted that Russia has changed the arrangement of its military forces in Ukraine after direct talks in Istanbul, adding that Kyiv hasn’t attached due importance to the issue.

According to the West’s news agencies, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is shifting from densely populated urban areas to the vast open plains of the Donbass region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Russian armed forces had begun a military operation in the Donbass region and announced that Kyiv would defend itself.

On Tuesday, the leaders of the US, Britain, and Canada pledged to send more artillery weaponry to Ukraine. US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the statement after they and other allied leaders took part in a video call to discuss their diplomatic engagements and coordinated efforts to further impose severe economic costs to hold Russia accountable.