MOSCOW, February 24. /TASS/. Moscow will always be ready for a dialogue that will return all to justness and principles of the UN Charter, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

"We held tense and detailed discussions with our American colleagues and with other NATO members. We hope that there is still a chance to return to international law and international commitments. And, considering that we are taking measures announced by the president to ensure the security of the country and the Russian people, we, undoubtedly, will always be ready for a dialogue that will return all to justice and principles of the UN Charter," Lavrov said at a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

The introductory speech by the nation’s top diplomat was posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.

As Lavrov pointed out, the West shows no respect for international law and Western countries are demonstrating "their appetite for the entire planet" with their strategies in the Indo-Pacific region.

"They ‘shoulder responsibility for global security.’ The way they are pressing ahead with the so-called Indo-Pacific strategies undoubtedly evidences that they have an appetite for the entire planet," Russia’s top diplomat highlighted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Thursday morning that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.

When clarifying the developments unfolding, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.