Russia will not halt fighting along contact line in Ukraine because it would "devalue feat of grandfathers" – Lavrov
Russia has categorically rejected the idea of halting hostilities along the current line of contact in its war against Ukraine, claiming that this would "devalue the feat of the grandfathers who defeated Nazism."
According to Censor.NET, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the statement in an interview with Russian state propaganda broadcaster VGTRK.
Threats to "toughen methods" and refusal to freeze the war
He accused Ukraine of striking civilian infrastructure and insisted that Russia would "not stoop to such" methods (Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the occupiers have regularly struck civilian and energy infrastructure in Ukraine. - Ed.)
"We will not stoop to that, but we will make our own methods much harsher to destroy everything that fuels Kyiv’s war machine from the West. And we are already doing so. They are already beginning to groan," the Russian Foreign Minister said.
According to him, an increasing number of voices from "different parts of the common space" are calling for an immediate halt, but, in his view, "that will not work."
"A halt should come when there is a long-term, reliable and sustainable settlement. If we were suddenly to stop at the line of contact now, we would essentially allow the feat of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers who defeated Nazism to be devalued. That cannot be contemplated," Lavrov added.
What else Lavrov said
The Russian Foreign Minister also acknowledged that people in Russia were suffering and "dying in terrorist attacks," but claimed that this was about "responsibility for the thousand-year history of the Russian state."
- Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would agree to freeze the front line and move towards a diplomatic settlement of the war. According to him, this could be the fastest path to peace.
