"Judging by what we see and read, Kiev and the West have begun to discuss the possibility of some kind of ceasefire and truce in order to get a respite and, during it, increase the military potential of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and then resume efforts to inflict a 'strategic defeat' on Russia. Of course, this is a dead end. A road to nowhere. There can be no doubt about this," Lavrov told the agency.
"We are ready for negotiations, but they should be aimed at eliminating the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis and taking into account the real situation on the ground," he said.
"In particular, we are talking about the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, ensuring its non-aligned, neutral and nuclear-weapon-free status, and eliminating long-term threats to Russia's security emanating from the West, including the expansion of NATO. Kiev must assume specific obligations to ensure the rights, freedoms and interests of Russian-speaking citizens and, of course, recognize the territorial realities enshrined in the Russian Constitution," Lavrov stated.
"Of course, both the new and the current administrations have such levers. It should only apply them, these levers, to itself and Kiev wards. If Washington really wanted to end the conflict, it would have stopped supplying weapons to Kiev, demanded that their satellites do the same and ordered their Kiev puppets to cease fire, resume the negotiation process without any conditions," he concluded.