Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed a sweeping range of international issues, focusing heavily on what he described as constructive signals from US President Donald Trump and his team, while simultaneously criticizing European governments for what he called efforts to sabotage any momentum toward a peaceful resolution in Ukraine.
Below are the key takeaways from Lavrov’s interview with Russia’s Channel 1, broadcast in the early hours of Wednesday morning following a marathon 12-hour negotiation session between Russian and American representatives in Riyadh on Monday.
Kiev is fundamentally untrustworthy
Lavrov asserted that the “Kiev regime” is not only breaking all agreements but doing so in ways that seem deliberately provocative. He recalled how Kiev publicly agreed to a 30-day ceasefire following the March 11 meeting with US officials in Jeddah, yet on the very same day launched a record 340 drone attacks on central Russia, including Moscow, targeting civilian infrastructure.
The foreign minister emphasized that this was not an isolated case, but part of a larger pattern. From violations of the Minsk Agreements to broken promises made during Turkish-brokered discussions in 2023, Lavrov painted a picture of a fundamentally untrustworthy government that uses negotiations as a tactical pause – only to regroup and escalate
“Every time a ceasefire is suddenly declared, Ukraine agrees to it solely because at that specific historical moment it found itself in a hopeless situation on the battlefield. As soon as there was a pause, immediately within weeks or a couple of months, this ceasefire was grossly violated,” the top diplomat stated.
Moscow believes that only a “direct order issued by Washington” can compel Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky to observe any potential truce. “Our position is simple… We cannot take this man’s word for it,” Lavrov said.
EU undermining Trump’s efforts
Lavrov accused European powers – specifically France and the UK – of deliberately undercutting President Trump’s diplomatic overtures. According to Lavrov, European leaders have pushed for so-called “peacekeeping missions”to be deployed in Ukrainian-controlled territories in a bid to lock in Western influence and obstruct a neutral, negotiated settlement.
“When the ‘remainder’ of Ukraine, if it persists in any form, is taken under the control of NATO countries’ security forces (no matter under what flag), no one says they will then strengthen democracy in the remaining territory. No one says they will repeal the racist, Russophobic laws that exterminate everything Russian,” Lavrov said.
He described this as an effort to undermine Washington’s role in a future settlement and to preserve a hardline anti-Russia posture, regardless of who is in the White House. Lavrov said these actions run counter to US de-escalation efforts, insisting that by pressing for a long-term NATO presence in Ukraine, Europe is seeking to anchor the conflict’s status quo and make any Russian-American compromise more difficult.
European militarization & seeking strategic defeat of Russia
Lavrov warned that Kiev’s European backers remain fully committed to a strategy of “strategic defeat” for Russia, comparing current Western behavior to the united fronts seen during the Napoleonic Wars and World War II. He noted that countries like Germany, France, and the UK are ramping up military spending while neglecting their own domestic economic challenges.
He cautioned that the European call to arm Ukraine indefinitely – even amid discussions of a ceasefire – reveals that Brussels is more interested in using Ukraine as a proxy battleground than in pursuing peace. EU leaders, he argued, are “remilitarizing Europe” under the illusion that Russia can be isolated and weakened.
No comments:
Post a Comment