Russia Denies Opening Opportunities For Peace Talks With Ukrina

JAKARTA - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied Moscow and Kiev would hold direct peace talks in Geneva.

"Ukraine has no right to decide when to start serious discussions about realistic conditions to end this conflict," he said at a press conference in Moscow as reported by ANTARA from Anadolu, Thursday, January 19.

"It is very important to discuss conditions to end the conflict in Ukraine with the West, but Western countries are not interested in this matter. They have not discussed conflict resolution at all," Lavrov said.

He stressed that the West only knew the idea of a ceasefire to give Ukraine the opportunity to re-armed.

According to Lavrov, the conflict should have been resolved a few years ago but the West "can't allow it".

On the other hand, the West is pushing Ukraine to be more aggressive in launching attacks on Russian territory, he said.

He criticized the Ukrainian military for placing the air defense system in residential areas so that civilians became his shield.

"This happens continuously," Lavrov said.

Lavrov stressed that the Russian army is committed to respecting international humanitarian norms and "only uses high-precision weapons to target military targets."

Lavrov said the experience in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya made him think Ukraine would also experience the same fate.

He said the rhetoric of Western countries had changed, changing from supporting Kiev "as long as necessary," to supporting "as long as possible."

Lavrov criticized those who called Ukraine upholding democratic values because of their fact of molesting political opponents, ethnic groups, and religious institutions, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to hold elections at the end of his term this year.

He also emphasized that "special military operations" have united the Russian people, while industrial activities have increased dramatically despite sanctions.

Lavrov also quoted Czech former president Vaclav Klaus as saying the conflict in Ukraine began in 2008 when NATO opened the door to Ukraine.