Moscow is open to a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict, but Washington and NATO want the hostilities to go on, the foreign minister has said
Russia would agree to a diplomatic settlement of the Ukraine conflict that would resolve its root causes, but neither Kiev nor its Western backers appear open to such a resolution, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Newsweek magazine published on Monday.
According to the diplomat, Moscow would prefer to end the conflict once and for all rather than merely achieve a ceasefire. For this, Lavrov stressed that the West must stop supplying weapons to Ukraine and Kiev should end its hostilities and return to a “neutral, non-bloc and non-nuclear status, protect the Russian language, and respect the rights and freedoms of its citizens.”
Lavrov suggested that the Istanbul agreements, which were nearly approved by the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in March 2022, could serve as the basis for such a settlement, as they provide for Kiev’s formal abstention from joining NATO, as well as security guarantees for Ukraine while recognizing “the realities on the ground at the moment.”
The minister also recalled that in June, Russian President Vladimir Putin also listed the prerequisites for a peace settlement with Ukraine, to which Kiev responded by launching an armed incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region. Meanwhile, the US and other NATO countries have openly stated their desire to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia.
“Under the circumstances, we have no choice but to continue our special military operation until the threats posed by Ukraine are removed,” Lavrov said, noting that the greatest cost in this conflict is being paid by the Ukrainians who are being “ruthlessly pushed by their own authorities to the war to be slaughtered there.”
The foreign minister added that while Russia has been trying to resolve the crisis around Ukraine for more than a decade, its efforts have repeatedly been undermined by Kiev and the West. Lavrov pointed to the US-backed Maidan coup in 2014, the UN-endorsed Minsk Agreements, which Ukraine, Germany, and France openly bragged about never intending to adhere to, and the Istanbul peace agreement in March 2022 that Vladimir Zelensky ultimately refused to sign after pressure from then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
“At present, as far as we can see, restoring peace is not part of our adversary’s plan. Zelensky has not revoked his decree banning negotiations with Moscow. Washington and its NATO allies provide political, military and financial support to Kiev so that the war would go on,” Lavrov surmised, warning that “playing with fire” in this manner could lead to dangerous consequences.
