Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has once again stated that Russia will not agree to “territorial concessions” during negotiations with Ukraine. But before discussing territories, Lavrov suggests starting with issues that are more important for Russian propaganda.
This is according to Radio Svoboda.
He said this at a press conference on Monday, February 17. For example, Lavrov is interested in the following questions: why is the Russian language banned in Ukraine and why is the UOC (in unity with the MP) banned there.
“If we are talking about serious diplomacy, first we need to understand the history of the issue, see why the Russian language is banned in all spheres of life in Ukraine, why the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church is banned there, which is a gross violation of numerous conventions and Article 1 of the UN Charter, and understand why none of the rather numerous initiatives that have been heard from different parts of the world so far mentions these human rights enshrined in the UN Charter, but only says that we need territorial rights that are in the UN Charter,” Lavrov said.
At the same time, Putin’s diplomat did not forget to mention his doubts about Europe’s participation in the peace talks.
“If European countries ‘exorcise’ the freezing of the conflict in Ukraine for the sake of its rearmament, then they have nothing to do at the negotiating table,” he said.
The day before, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on possible negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, made a series of cynical statements. According to him, the West allegedly “deceived” Russia with the Minsk agreements, and now Moscow intends to “use the experience” to “improve its positions.”
