Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that President Zelensky's administration "lacks goodwill to build peace " when it only talks about conflict with aggressive words.
"We must establish that the Zelensky administration has no peace intentions. Its representatives think only about conflict, use aggressive rhetoric. They do not think about a ceasefire," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview on December 28.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky banned talks with Russian leaders as long as Mr Putin remained in power in September. Mr Lavrov said the ban remained in place, reflecting Ukraine’s lack of willingness to negotiate peace.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow in February 2022. Photo: Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed that Moscow has never refused to negotiate peace with Ukraine. However, he noted that Ukraine itself "publicly announced its withdrawal from the negotiation process" in the spring of 2022.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the longer Ukraine delays negotiations, the more difficult it will be for the two countries to reach an agreement. The first step for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine is for Kiev to lift the ban on dialogue with Moscow.
Russia's top diplomat also admitted that the conflict in the Middle East is a distraction for the West, but the ambition to cause Russia "strategic defeat" remains one of the top priorities of the US and its allies.
“They are still very interested in containing Russia with the Ukrainians,” he said.
The West has provided unprecedented humanitarian, economic and military aid to Ukraine after Russia launched its war in late February 2022. However, its support base is said to be weakening as countries face internal disputes and financial difficulties.
The Kiel Institute, a German aid watchdog, released a study earlier this month showing that new military, financial and humanitarian aid commitments to Ukraine from August to October this year amounted to just under $2.3 billion, down 87% from the same period in 2022. This is the lowest level since Russia began its war in Ukraine in late February 2022.
Mr Lavrov asserted that the West's efforts to make Russia suffer a strategic defeat had "completely failed".
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in November that those calling for Kiev to negotiate with Moscow were “ignorant,” amid reports that allies were pushing for the effort. Earlier, President Zelensky said Kiev was “not ready” to negotiate with Moscow unless Russian troops withdrew from Ukrainian territory.
Thanh Tam (According to TASS, Reuters, Anadolu Agency )
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