Ukraine's Zelensky Makes Unrealistic Proposals on Peace Settlement: Russian FM Lavrov
15:35 18.01.2023 (Updated: 15:43 18.01.2023)
© Sputnik / Sergey Guneev / Go to the mediabankRussian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is holding a press conference to discuss the results of Russian diplomacy in 2022
© Sputnik / Sergey Guneev
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that the "formula for peace" proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's is unrealistic, because different topics are mixed in it — from energy and food security to the withdrawal of Russian troops.
"Zelensky puts forward some completely unrealistic initiatives, a ten-point plan, where everything is mixed up: food security, energy security, biological [security], withdrawal of Russian troops from everywhere, Russia's repentance, tribunal, conviction, and so on," Lavrov told an annual press conference.
"There can be no negotiations with Zelensky, simply because he has legally banned talks with the Russian government," Lavrov said during the Q&A session of his press conference.
Russia is ready to consider serious proposals from the West for negotiations on the Ukrainian issue, but so far there have been none, Lavrov explained.
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Russia hoped that Europe would understand the impossibility of "deceiving all the time" and breaking promises, including on NATO's expansion to the east, Lavrov said.
"I gave an example of the first Ukrainian Maidan, 2004, when Europe said [that] Ukraine should choose whether [they will stick] with Europe or with Russia. This was three years before the Munich speech [by Russian President Vladimir Putin]. Even then we hoped that reason will prevail and Europe will understand that it is impossible to constantly deceive, it is impossible to constantly expand NATO to the east contrary to the promises that had been made," he said.
Answering the first question in the Q&A session, the Russian foreign minister stressed that the goals of the Russian special military operation are not made up, they are defined by interests of Russia and its neighbors.