Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that some voices in the West are “whispering” about peace in Ukraine after Kyiv’s summer offensive to retake occupied territories failed, Reuters reported.
Nearly two years after the full-scale invasion began, Moscow’s forces control about 17.5 percent of Ukraine’s territory as the long-awaited Ukrainian offensive, which was originally supposed to begin in the spring but was delayed until June pending equipment promised by the West, failed to decisively break through the complex defense lines. built by the Russian army.
Speaking in an interview with RIA and the Rossiya 24 TV channel on Thursday, Sergey Lavrov said that there are signs that the West is changing its tactics and strategy towards Ukraine.
“The West is really changing its tactics, maybe even thinking about refining its strategy. Because if the “strategic defeat of Russia” is a strategy, excuse the tautology, then this strategy has failed miserably,” said the head of Russian diplomacy.
The Russian diplomat talks about “whispers” in the West about forcing Ukraine to break the peace
“There are some approaches, some whispers, why don’t you (Russia) meet with someone in Europe who would like to talk, talk about Ukraine without Ukraine itself,” he added, repeating that Moscow will achieve all its goals “military special operation” .
Lavrov, who has been in office since 2004, also said major Western powers met in secret about 10 days ago on the sidelines of the G7 summit to discuss a “peace formula” proposed last December by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The head of Russian diplomacy also said that the leaders of the countries concerned agreed to meet again in January and then at a “peace summit” a month later to discuss the issue.
Among other things, the peace plan proposed by Zelensky in December 2022 involves the withdrawal of all Russian troops from his country and the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity. However, Moscow has repeatedly rejected any peace talks on the grounds that it will not leave the territories that President Vladimir Putin declared annexed to Russia last September.
The government in Kyiv rejects the capitulation and says that Vladimir Putin is not interested in negotiations
Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, repeated yesterday that Ukraine will not agree to hand over territory to Russia, and expressed skepticism about Moscow’s alleged readiness to negotiate an end to the conflict.
“Putin is not ready for any negotiations. Putin or his entourage make these statements in order to reduce support for our country,” Danilov said in an interview, adding that Russia is issuing “these lies” that the Kremlin is ready for negotiations.
He recalled Ukraine’s “clear position” on the topic of peace talks, referring to President Zelenskyi’s proposals last year.
“The negotiations proposed by the Russian Federation are quite simple: our capitulation. We cannot afford to capitulate to the country that began to destroy us on February 24. And we will continue to go to victory,” Oleksiy Danilov emphasized on Wednesday.
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Source: Hot News
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