Moscow – Russia is open to a political and diplomatic solution to the conflict around Ukraine, but does not see the point in temporary “pauses” that Kyiv and the West could use to regroup troops and build up military potential. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with Magyar Nemzet.
“We do not need a pause that the Kiev regime and its external curators would like to take to regroup troops, continue mobilization and strengthen military potential,” the minister emphasized.
According to him, a lasting peace requires eliminating the root causes of the conflict, including NATO expansion and “pulling” Ukraine into the alliance. Lavrov also pointed out the “need to protect human rights” in the territories controlled by Kiev and recalled that Moscow demands recognition of “new territorial realities” – Crimea, Sevastopol, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions as part of the Russian Federation.
“Their residents determined their fate by freely expressing their will in a referendum,” he said.
Among the key conditions for a long-term settlement, Lavrov named the demilitarization and “denazification” of Ukraine, the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions, and the return of Russian assets seized in the West.
“All these provisions must be spelled out in a legally binding agreement,” the head of the Foreign Ministry added.
Lavrov emphasized that Ukraine should return to the principle of neutrality, enshrined in the Declaration of State Sovereignty of 1990 and confirmed by the “Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine” of 1991.