The Russian Foreign Ministry cited the reason for Corriere della Sera's refusal to publish Lavrov's interview

The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera refused to publish the full version of the interview with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, stating "controversial allegations" in his words. This was reported by the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The report says that the Russian side offered the newspaper an exclusive interview with Lavrov after "noticing the increasing flow of fakes about Russia" in the Italian media.

The newspaper's editorial board agreed and sent a list of questions to which Lavrov gave detailed answers. However, after receiving the materials, the newspaper refused to publish the interview.

"It was 'explained' to us that Sergey Lavrov's words 'contain many controversial statements requiring fact—checking or additional clarifications, the publication of which would lead to exceeding reasonable volumes,'" the diplomats noted.

Russia's proposal to publish an abridged version in print and the full version on the website was also rejected.

The Russian side regarded the refusal as an act of "blatant censorship" and a violation of the right of Italians to access information.

The Foreign Ministry published both versions of the interview — the full version and the edited version, claiming that "all inconvenient moments for official Rome" were removed from the text.

In an interview published on the Foreign Ministry's website, Sergey Lavrov rejects accusations of "Russia's unpreparedness for negotiations" and claims that after the Anchorage summit, Russia was waiting for the US response on the proposed peace settlement plan.

Lavrov also emphasizes that the purpose of the military operation is not to seize territories, but to protect the population and ensure Russia's security. Lavrov says that Russia is striving for a neutral and non-aligned status of Ukraine, accuses the West of waging a "proxy war" against Russia.

About Italy, Lavrov says that it is not the people who are "unfriendly", but the government, and Moscow is ready to restore dialogue if Rome shows readiness for mutual respect.