Russia ready to negotiate peace in Ukraine, says Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia is “ready for negotiations” on Ukraine, but stressed that before signing any agreement, Russia “will analyze the wording very carefully and protect this document from repeated, unscrupulous, non-binding clauses and malicious interpretations.”

Speaking to reporters in New York, Lavrov said that “Zelenskyy’s so-called plan” has “the distinct form of an ultimatum” and is “unacceptable, which has been well known to everyone for a long time.”

He said: “when it comes to peace efforts, for some reason everyone is talking about” Ukraine’s peace summit in Bürgenstock in June 2024, and “no one is talking about China’s initiatives, which were several earlier this year and were mentioned yesterday in your speech.”

The Russian Foreign Minister said: “If we talk about the evolution of this whole process, we are told that Russia must withdraw to the 1991 border. The problem is that we have been deceived all along. If the agreement signed by President Yanukovych with the opposition had been implemented in February 2014 – and it consisted of creating a government of national unity and preparing for early presidential elections – if it had been implemented, Ukraine would now be within the 1991 borders.”

He said: “If the Minsk Agreements were fulfilled, Ukraine would be within the 1991 borders minus Crimea. Because no one even stuttered about Crimea at that time.”

Lavrov said: “It turned out that we were also deceived when they said that this agreement was the path to peace. Or they did not lie. Probably, the Ukrainian negotiators were sincere when they initiated this document to endorse. But, as the chief negotiator admitted in a recent TV interview, Boris Johnson came and prevented them from fulfilling the agreement. That is why it was never signed.”

He said: “Taking into account the sad experience of talks and consultations with the West and the Ukrainians, the agreement that, I hope, will be reached at some point on European security, and in this context, the Ukrainian crisis will be resolved. Of course, we will analyze the wording very carefully and protect this document from repeated, unscrupulous, non-binding clauses and malicious interpretations.”

Asked about the upcoming US elections, the Russian official said: “It was during Trump’s presidency that the sanctions war began. Obama started it, to be fair. Under Trump, sanctions have increased, both economic and diplomatic. But at that time, as I said, there was a dialogue between us and Washington at the highest and highest levels. There is no such dialogue now.”

Lavrov is in New York coinciding with Russia’s presidency of the Security Council and on Tuesday (July 16) chaired a ministerial meeting on “Multilateral cooperation in the interests of a more just, democratic and sustainable world order”.