Russian foreign minister: Russia will not agree to cease hostilities in Ukraine along current front line
Pravda Ukraine
Russia refuses to cease hostilities along the current front line, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, citing the Russian constitution, which was illegally amended in 2022 to include several partially occupied Ukrainian oblasts.
Source: Interfax Ukraine, citing Lavrov’s statement during a press conference in Qatar
Quote from Lavrov: “Some say: well, fine, there were ideas, let’s keep the line of contact – this is Russian, and this is Ukrainian. First of all, that will not happen; we have a constitution.”
Details: Lavrov believes that the deployment of foreign peacekeepers in Ukraine complicates the situation. He also highlighted US President Donald Trump’s words, alleging that Trump said peacekeepers could only be deployed with both sides’ approval.
Quote from Lavrov: “No one is asking us about this. This approach, which is being imposed by the Europeans – primarily France, as well as the British – is aimed at what I just mentioned: to further escalate the conflict, to block any attempts to calm it down… Such simple mechanical tricks as troop deployment will not work; we need to talk about the root causes.”
Details: He emphasised that during a meeting in Saudi Arabia, the issue of US involvement in the extraction of rare earth metals in “Russia’s new regions” [the term used by the Russians for the seized Ukrainian territories – ed.] was not discussed.
Background: Moscow announced plans to have negotiations with the United States in Istanbul, Türkiye, on 27 February, over the work of both countries’ diplomatic missions.
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