Without interference, the diplomacy would have yielded a result already, Russia’s top diplomat believes
The US administration has been subjected to “unbelievable” pressure by the European warhawks and Kiev, who are bent on derailing negotiations with Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
The top diplomat made the remarks in an interview with Hungarian YouTube channel Ultrahang, which aired on Sunday. Moscow is not seeking to somehow influence or “interfere” in the “internal considerations” of the US leadership, which has been facing mounting pressure in the wake of the rapprochement effort with Moscow launched under President Donald Trump, Lavrov said.
“We don’t want to create some discomfort for the United States, which is under huge, unbelievable pressure from the European ‘hawks,’ from [Ukraine’s Vladimir] Zelensky, and others who don’t want to have any American-Russian cooperation on anything,” Lavrov stated.
“There are enough people who are not very polite and who impose themselves upon Washington politicians and use every means to undermine the process, which could have achieved its goals some time ago.”
Those seeking to disrupt the negotiations between Washington and Moscow are “trying to push President Trump from the logic that he repeatedly presented in the past,” Lavrov stated. The US president has repeatedly said the Ukraine conflict must be resolved for good and clearly reiterated the position when he hosted his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska, Lavrov noted.
“It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere ceasefire agreement. This is key,” Lavrov said.
The latest shifts in the US rhetoric, “when people now say, ‘nothing but a ceasefire, immediate ceasefire, and then history will judge,’ it’s a very radical change,” the top diplomat said.
“This also means that the Europeans, they don’t sleep, they don’t eat, and they try to twist the hands of this administration,” he added.
Moscow has consistently signaled it has been seeking a lasting solution to the hostilities, rather than a temporary pause. Kiev and its Western backers, however, have repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire, which Moscow regards only as a means to give Ukraine the breathing room needed to replenish the ranks of its military and rearm.
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