Russia does not support a “weak” ceasefire with Ukraine, but wants a robust agreement for a lasting peace that guarantees the security of the country and its neighbors, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday (26) .
“A truce is a road to nowhere,” said Lavrov, who stressed that the country suspects that a “weak” truce would be used by the West to rearm Ukraine.
“We need final legal agreements that set out all the conditions to guarantee the security of the Russian Federation and, of course, the legitimate security interests of our neighbors,” he highlighted.
He added that Vladimir Putin’s government wants the documents to be drafted in a way that guarantees “the impossibility of violating these agreements.”
Reuters reported last month that Putin is open to discussing a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine with Donald Trump, but has ruled out making major territorial concessions and insists that Kiev abandon ambitions to join NATO, the Western military alliance.
Putin said last week he was ready to reach an agreement on Ukraine in possible talks with US President-elect Donald Trump on ending the war.
However, he highlighted that there are no conditions to start talks with the Ukrainian authorities.
Putin stated that the fight is complex, so it is “difficult and useless to guess what awaits us… [mas] we are moving towards solving our main tasks, which we outlined at the beginning of the special military operation [guerra na Ucrânia]”.
Trump, who has repeatedly stated that he will end the conflict, commented that Putin wanted to meet with him. Russia reported that there were no contacts with the new American government.
Trump’s Ukraine envoy, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, will travel to Kiev and several other European capitals in early January as the incoming administration seeks to bring a swift end to the war, according to two sources.
Putin points out that an arrogant, US-led West has ignored Russia’s post-Soviet interests, tried to draw Ukraine into its orbit since 2014, and then used the country to wage a proxy war aimed at weakening — and then destroying — Russia.
Understand the war between Russia and Ukraine
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and entered the territory from three fronts: through the Russian border, through Crimea and through Belarus, a country that is a strong ally of the Kremlin.
Forces loyal to President Vladimir Putin made significant advances in the first few days, but the Ukrainians managed to maintain control of Kiev, even though the city was also attacked. The invasion was criticized internationally and the Kremlin was the target of economic sanctions from the West.
In October 2024, after thousands of deaths, the war in Ukraine entered what analysts describe as its most dangerous moment yet.
Tensions rose when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the use of an intermediate-range hypersonic missile during an attack on Ukrainian soil. The projectile carried conventional warheads, but is capable of carrying nuclear material.
The launch took place after Ukraine launched an offensive inside Russian territory using weapons manufactured by Western powers, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
Western intelligence reports that Russia is using North Korean troops in the conflict in Ukraine. Moscow and Pyongyang neither deny nor confirm the report.
President Vladimir Putin, who replaced his defense minister in May, has said that Russian forces are advancing much more effectively — and that Russia will achieve all of its objectives in Ukraine, although he did not elaborate.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he believes Putin’s main goals are to occupy the entire Donbass region, encompassing the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and to expel Ukrainian troops from Russia’s Kursk region, which they have controlled parts of since August. .
This content was originally published in Russia’s security must be guaranteed in any agreement in Ukraine, says Lavrov on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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