Lavrov called for credible agreements on peace in Ukraine

A ceasefire in Ukraine would now be a road to nowhere, we need reliable agreements. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this during an interview with Russian and foreign mass media on 26 December.

"So far, all we hear is talk about the need to come up with some kind of truce, and it is not hidden that this truce is needed in order to buy time to continue pumping weapons into Ukraine so that they put themselves in order, carry out additional mobilization and so on," he said.

Lavrov characterized the truce in Ukraine as a "path to nowhere." He noted that Russia needs legally formalized agreements that would clearly specify the conditions for ensuring security both for the Russian state itself and for its neighbors. The foreign minister emphasized that this document should also state the impossibility of its violation.

Earlier, on 25 December, the deputy speaker of the Federation Council (FC), Konstantin Kosachev, said that the decision on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict was highly likely to be taken not in Kiev, but in "higher oval offices". He also recalled that the Russian Federation had confirmed its readiness for negotiations.

Before that, on December 22, US President-elect Donald Trump said that he was waiting for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to start negotiations on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. The Republican added that if he were in the place of the current US leader Joe Biden, he would not have allowed such a crisis at all.

On 18 December, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that the North Atlantic Alliance's intentions to geopolitically absorb Ukraine were blocking the way to a long-term settlement of the conflict. According to him, the root of the Ukrainian crisis lies in the expansion of Washington-led NATO into the post-Soviet space.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.