Russia Open to Ukraine Talks, But 'Ball' Isn’t in Its Court: Lavrov
13:39 28.04.2025 (Updated: 19:58 28.04.2025)
© Sputnik / Sergey Bobylev
/ Subscribe
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia remains open for talks on Ukraine, but the "ball" is not in Moscow's court, as Kiev has not yet demonstrated its ability to negotiate, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
"We remain open to negotiations, but the ball is not in our court. Kiev has not shown readiness for negotiations so far. The latest evidence of that is the Ukrainian armed forces’ inability to respect the 30-day moratorium on strikes on energy facilities (March 18 to April 17) or the 30-hour Easter truce (from 6 pm [15:00 GMT] on April 19 to midnight on April 21 [21:00 on April 20 GMT])," Lavrov said in an interview with Brazil’s O Globo newspaper.
Ukrainian authorities showed a lack of "the political will for peace and the ability to stop the war," the foreign minister added.
Regarding the contacts between Russia and the United States on the issue of the Ukrainian settlement, Lavrov said that Moscow got the impression that Washington has become more aware of Russia's stance.
"We hope that this will help them during their dialogue with Kiev and individual European countries. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed me of the engagements he had in Paris on April 17 later the same day. He noted that the discussion was held in the spirit of the Moscow-Washington consultations," Lavrov added.
He further stated that the European Union countries continue supporting Kiev to salvage its reputation, placing this goal above achieving a fair and sustainable peace.
"Brussels does not want anything but Moscow’s unconditional defeat. Any other outcome would amount to losing the geopolitical game for it. The EU believes that by ending its support to Ukraine it would demonstrate its strategic incompetence... In other words, the bureaucrats in Brussels focus on saving their reputation rather than achieving a fair and lasting peace," Lavrov said.
The minister added that the EU seeks to undermine work on a peaceful settlement, continues to supply Ukraine with arms and prepare contingents to be sent to the country, despite Russia's warnings.
"Against this backdrop, the fact that the current administration in the United States is trying to understand the root causes of the crisis is quite encouraging and contrasts with the Joe Biden administration, which pumped the Kiev regime full of lethal weapons and was proactive in its efforts to draw Ukraine into NATO," Lavrov highlighted.
