Russia is apparently walking back its earlier goals to overthrow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government in its faltering invasion.
On Monday, a Kremlin spokesman said the “special operation” in Ukraine ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin is not focused on regime change in Kyiv.
“No, the president has spoken about this already,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to TASS, the official Russian news agency.
In February, Mr. Putin called on the Ukrainian military to oust Mr. Zelenskyy.
“Take power into your own hands. It will be easier for us to agree with you than this gang of junkies and neo-Nazis,” he said during a meeting of the Russian Security Council in Moscow.