GSergey Lavrov: The agreement with Ukraine will depend on the course of hostilities, the provisions of the peace treaty will be determined by the current military situation at the time of its conclusion, the Foreign Minister explained. At the same time, he expressed confidence that the ongoing hostilities will end with such a document
The parameters of the agreement between Russia and Ukraine, which will end active hostilities, will be determined by the current military situation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the “Big Game” program. The transcript of the interview is published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“As in any situation when armed forces are used, eventually everything will end with a treaty, but the parameters of this treaty will be determined by the stage of hostilities at which this treaty will become a reality,” he said.
The minister also said that Russia took into account Kiev’s comments in the updated version of the agreement, but has not yet received a response. “A week ago, after another video conference, we gave them an updated version of the contract, which already took into account their subsequent comments. As it usually happens. We are waiting for a week,” he explained.
Lavrov recalled that after the meeting with the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul, the Russian side received Kiev’s proposals on the parameters of the agreement. According to Lavrov, these were not yet the provisions of the treaty, but their “sketches”. “We promptly transferred these theses to the contractual genre and handed over the project to our Ukrainian colleagues. Then they presented to us their counter-ideas, which were radically different from what was done in Istanbul. A huge step back,” he commented.
In response to the question whether Ukraine had tightened its position at that moment, the Foreign Minister explained that the delegation “played back” from those positions that Moscow was ready to take as a basis.
Last week, Lavrov said that negotiations with Ukraine on the issue of a peace treaty are moving “slowly, slowly”. In his opinion, Kiev is showing incompetence and insolvency, and the statements of the Ukrainian authorities “suggest that they do not need these negotiations at all and they have resigned themselves to their fate”.
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In mid-April, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced his vision of a possible document. In his opinion, it may consist of two parts: an agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine and an agreement consolidating relations between Ukraine and Russia.
Kiev also made the withdrawal of Russian troops to positions as of February 23 a condition for concluding a peace treaty. At the same time, a ceasefire must be in effect, humanitarian corridors must operate in a safe mode, prisoners and the dead must be exchanged.
After the withdrawal of Russian troops, Kiev will be ready to discuss with Moscow issues of NATO membership and the status of Crimea, Zelensky said.
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