Peace negotiations on Ukraine are only possible if they aim to establish a “new world order” without American domination, the Russian Foreign Minister said on Friday during a trip to Turkey.
Sergei Lavrov also threatened to end the agreement allowing Ukrainian grain exports, essential to ensure global food security and to make it possible to send Ukraine’s important agricultural production outside its borders.
Information to remember:
- Peace negotiations on Ukraine are only possible if they aim to establish a “new world order” without American domination, Sergei Lavrov said.
- Sergei Lavrov threatens to end the agreement allowing Ukrainian grain exports.
- The Kremlin also considers that the West is waging a proxy war in Ukraine.
“The negotiations (of peace on Ukraine) can only take place on the basis of taking into account Russian interests”, said the Russian minister, during a press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Cavusoglu. “These are the principles on which the new world order will be founded,” he added, denouncing American “hegemonism”.
The Kremlin also considers that the West is waging a proxy war in Ukraine
Russia explained its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 by claiming in particular that NATO and the United States were using their Ukrainian ally to attack Russia. Before invading this neighboring country, Moscow had demanded security guarantees involving in particular a withdrawal of the Atlantic Alliance of Eastern Europe.
The Kremlin also considers that the West is waging a proxy war in Ukraine by providing Kiev with military aid, another way of explaining the inability of the Russian army to impose itself on the battlefield.
This month, the Russian presidency has repeatedly said that it sees no opportunity for negotiations and has no “other solution than to continue the special military operation”, the Russian euphemism to describe its offensive in Ukraine.
The Kremlin rules out possible Chinese mediation
The Kremlin thus immediately ruled out possible Chinese mediation and a call for a truce from its ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Concerning the threat agitated Friday by Sergei Lavrov to bury the agreement on the export of Ukrainian cereals, Moscow considers that the part of this text which should allow it to send its own agricultural production and its fertilizers to foreign markets does not is not applied. “If there is no progress in removing obstacles to Russian fertilizer and grain exports, then we will wonder whether this agreement is necessary,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
In March, Russia announced that it was only extending its participation in the grain deal for 60 days, instead of the 120 foreseen by the pact. The so-called Black Sea Agreement, signed last July for 120 days between the United Nations, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey has had the effect of alleviating the global food crisis caused by the Russian invasion. It was renewed in November for four months and allowed the export of more than 24 million tonnes of grain from Ukrainian ports, according to the UN.
Ukraine tells Lula it won’t give up on Crimea
Ukraine said on Friday it would not give up Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, in exchange for an end to the war, rejecting a suggestion by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “There is no legal, political or moral reason justifying the abandonment of even one centimeter of Ukrainian territory”, wrote on Facebook the spokesperson for Ukrainian diplomacy, Oleg Nikolenko, while assuring appreciate “the efforts of the Brazilian president to find a way to stop Russian aggression”.
“Any mediation effort to restore peace in Ukraine must be based on respect for the sovereignty and full territorial integrity of Ukraine in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter,” he said. he adds.
Lula had suggested to Ukraine to cede the peninsula
On Thursday, Lula had suggested that Ukraine cede the Crimean peninsula to Russia to end the war, saying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could “not want everything”.
At the end of January, the Brazilian head of state formulated a proposal, with still vague outlines, for the mediation of a group of countries in the conflict in Ukraine. Lula is due to present this project to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing next week. The Brazilian president said he was “confident” about the chances of success of this project, hoping that the group of countries “will be created” when he returns from China.