Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared in a statement on Monday that if Western countries want to solve the Ukrainian conflict on the battlefield, Russia is ready for it.

During consultations at the parliament's upper house, "This is their [Western countries'] right if they want to [settle the conflict] on the battlefield, it will be on the battlefield," Lavrov said, adding that Moscow has repeatedly declared its preparedness for negotiations to resolve the Ukrainian crisis while taking into account the current reality. 

This comes two days after Former Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland on Saturday told Politico that Ukraine lacks the necessary strength to engage in negotiations with Russia to resolve the ongoing armed conflict.

When questioned about whether it was a mistake not to encourage Kiev to pursue peace talks with Russia in 2022, she answered, "They were not in a strong enough position then. They’re not in a strong enough position now."

Russian military-industrial complex world's most powerful: Deputy PM

Acting Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov declared on Monday that the Russian military-industrial complex reigns supreme globally in key categories of arms and military equipment.

During his address to lawmakers, Manturov said, "Today the Russian military and industrial complex is the world’s most powerful in terms of the output of major types of weapons and military equipment." He added that the current geopolitical situation orders the need to permanently improve the technical characteristics of weapons and military equipment and increase the production of arms, the official added. 

Read next: US precision arms in Kiev hit brick due to Russian electronic warfare

Since the onset of the NATO-orchestrated war in Ukraine, Western nations, including the US, have been furnishing substantial military and financial assistance to Kiev. Despite consistent warnings from the Kremlin against ongoing arms deliveries to Kiev, citing potential escalation of the conflict, support from Western countries persists.

On that note, earlier last month, Ukraine secretly received long-range missiles from the United States for the first time in two years - since the start of the war - and Ukraine has already used them twice to strike deep behind Russian lines, Politico reported.

Citing a senior Biden administration official and two US officials, the report by Politico stated that several Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) with a range of nearly 200 miles were delivered, paving the way for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his forces to put more Russian targets at risk.

One of the US officials revealed that the Biden administration intends to include more long-range ATACMS in an upcoming $1 billion package meant for Ukraine, which US President Joe Biden approved.