Russia has expanded its military goals in Ukraine from seizing control of the eastern Donbas region of the embattled country to regime change in Kyiv, the Kremlin's top diplomat says.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking to envoys at an Arab League summit in Cairo late Sunday, said Moscow is targeting the "absolutely unacceptable regime" of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

 "We feel sorry for the Ukrainian people, who deserve far better," Lavrov said. "We feel sorry for Ukrainian history, which is collapsing before our eyes."

Zelenskyy was unbowed, pleading to win "this war for independence" and to keep Ukraine on a course toward full membership in the EU and becoming one of the most modern states in the world.

Russian troops swept into Ukraine on Feb. 24 and rolled toward Kyiv before bogging down on the outskirts of the capital. The Kremlin then hit reset, focusing its efforts on the industrial Donbas.