ANTALYA, March 10. /TASS/. Russia has not invaded Ukraine and doesn’t plan to attack other countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday after talks with his Ukrainian and Turkish counterparts, Dmitry Kuleba and Mevlut Cavusoglu.

"As for your question about whether we plan to invade other countries, we have no plans to invade other countries. We have not invaded Ukraine either. In Ukraine, we are simply… we have explained it many times. The situation that develops there poses direct threats to Russia’s security," he said.

According to the Russian top diplomat, evidence indicate that Ukraine planned to attack the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) already this month. "Despite our years-long warnings, reminders, calls and proposals, no one listened to us. President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin has spoken on this topic more than once and in meticulous detail. And the new facts that are now being exposed on liberated territories, in particular in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, indicate that an attack on these republics was plotted. It was planned thoroughly and was scheduled for this month already," Lavrov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 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, its goals were denazification and demilitarization of that country.