Ukraine is not ready for peace talks, Russia will pursue goals of "SMO" on ground," Lavrov says
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claims that Ukraine is allegedly not ready for peace talks with Russia, so Moscow will seek to achieve the objectives of the "special military operation (SMO)" directly "on the ground."
He was quoted by Russian propaganda media, Censor.NET reports.
Kremlin threats
According to him, Russia is supposedly "committed to all agreements" on a political and diplomatic settlement of the "Ukrainian crisis." Lavrov accused Ukraine of sabotaging the peace process:
"Unfortunately, those agreements to which Russia was committed, from 2022 to the current year, have been sabotaged by the Ukrainian side."
"Putin has repeatedly confirmed that we are unequivocally committed to a negotiated solution. But since the Kyiv regime is not ready for this, we will achieve the goals of the special military operation (as Russia calls its full-scale war against Ukraine — ed.) on the ground, which is what is happening now," Lavrov added.
He also said that "the European Union has completely discredited itself," adding that Moscow "sees nothing constructive for advancing the negotiation process" in statements by representatives of France, Germany and Brussels officials.
Background
- Earlier, Lavrov said that after the meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska, Russia had counted on full-scale cooperation with the United States, but that "it looks the opposite."
- According to media reports, Putin’s history lecture prompted Trump to threaten to leave the summit in Alaska.
