West Pushing Kiev to Use Long-Range Missiles on Russia Shows No Interest in Peace, Lavrov States

The actions of Western countries in pushing Ukraine to fire long-range missiles at Crimea and deep into Russian territory indicate that they do not want any constructive solution, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

"The use of long-range weapons to strike Crimea, in order to generally make it unsuitable for habitation, and deep into the territory of Russia ... the transfer of relevant weapons, this suggests that the West does not want any constructive solution that would take into account the legitimate concerns of Russia," Lavrov said at the press conference.

Commenting on the political life in Ukraine, Lavrov said that Russia is not concerned about it, noting that the West wants to have more flexibility in Ukraine's leadership.

“We have heard that the West strongly recommends Zelensky to hold such elections, apparently hoping that the election campaign and the voting itself will allow Zelensky to be brought a little into line with the interests of the West, because he is increasingly getting out of hand,” he noted.

The minister added that the President of Ukraine publicly announced that “he will not organize any elections because there is a war going on.” Lavrov pointed out that this resembles “another staging” and reflects the desire of Zelensky and his associates to “hold on to power as much as possible.”

The Kiev-London Agreement is a "Semi-Finished Product"

According to Lavrov, he is familiar with the contents of the document agreed upon by Zelensky and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Last week, Sunak and Zelensky signed the security cooperation agreement in Kiev.

“I heard what was in the document... I did not see any binding provisions in the analysis of this document, unless one that considers Ukraine's obligation to ensure the protection of the islands in case if someone attacks the UK. Quite anecdotal,” Lavrov noted.

He also recalled that about a couple of months ago, there were discussions in the West about whether Ukraine should join to the European Union or NATO — and not everyone was in favor of it. As a result, it was decided that Kiev would conclude separate agreements with Western countries.

"And as such, you know, a semi-finished product, the conclusion of bilateral agreements with individual Western countries was invented," Lavrov said.

Earlier, British Prime Minister Sunak visited Kiev. There, he announced his largest aid package to date, worth 2.5 billion pounds ($3.2 billion) for 2024, and signed a security cooperation agreement with Zelensky. The new agreement is designed for 10 years, during which time Britain has pledged to support Ukraine.

The minister also emphasized that the claims that Russia and Ukraine have initiated negotiations in Geneva are unsubstantiated speculations.

"Rumors are just rumors," the minister stated, adding that it is necessary to talk to the West about the end of the conflict and its conditions.

However, according to Lavrov, the West is not interested in negotiations with Russia, and it is Washington that gives the order to Kiev not to sign the peace treaty.

Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then, Russian and Ukrainian delegations have engaged in several rounds of peace talks, but the negotiations eventually reached an impasse. In October 2022, the Ukrainian president signed a decree stating that Kiev could not engage in peace talks as long as Vladimir Putin was president of Russia.

As Putin demonstrated at a meeting with the African delegation on the Ukraine crisis last summer, during negotiations between Moscow and Kiev in April 2022, the parties agreed on a draft treaty on the permanent neutral status of Ukraine, which was to be enshrined in the Ukrainian constitution.

Russia's Special Operation in Ukraine

Putin to African Delegation: Ukraine Gave Up on Negotiations Despite Arranged Peace Settlement

17 June 2023, 19:55

Putin said at a meeting with African leaders that the draft agreement was initialed by the head of the Ukrainian negotiating group, David Arakhamia, and that he signed it. Later, however, under pressure from Western partners and in particular from then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Ukraine withdrew from the negotiation process.