Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that a lasting peace in Ukraine will not be possible if Russian interests and the rights of the Russian native population in Ukraine are not taken into account. Lavrov added that any summit between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukranian president Volodymir Zelensky must be preceded by exhaustive preparation beginning with negotiations between experts and going through all the necessary preliminaries before culminating in a summit. Most important will be how to properly deal with the origins of the conflict, especially the expansion of NATO to the East. Lavrov pointed out that at the recent Ukraine conference in Alaska there was discussion of security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe but no mention of protection for Russia. He added that European leaders continue to have an arrogant approach to obligations under international law, making favorable mention of rights on paper that are false in practice.
Lavrov criticized the West for its assumption that Zelensky can and should impose any agreements he feels like on Russia without it occurring to anyone that it might be a good idea to repeal laws that violate the rights of the Russian native population of Ukraine before entering into negotiations.
Source:
"Lasting Peace With Ukraine Only If Russian Interests Are Respected: Lavrov," La Jornada (Spanish), August 20, 2025
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