Russian Foreign Minister Affirms Denazification To Returning Assets As A Condition For Peace Treaty With Ukraine

JAKARTA - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed a number of requirements for a peace agreement with Ukriana, covering demilitarization to denazification, during an interview with Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet.

The agreement must also regulate that all lawsuits against Russia be dropped, sanctions lifted, and Moscow's confiscated assets returned

"The agenda is the goal of demilitarizing and denazification of Ukraine, lifting anti-Russian sanctions, withdrawing all lawsuits against Russia, and returning assets illegally confiscated in the West. All of these provisions must be described in a legally binding peace settlement agreement," he said, launching TASS July 7.

Foreign Minister Lavrov further said Russia remains open to the diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, but talks must focus on lasting peace, not a ceasefire.

"We do not require a pause that the Kyiv regime and its external controllers want to take to reorganize troops, continue mobilization and strengthen military capabilities," he stressed.

Foreign Minister Lavrov said continued settlements were impossible without eliminating the root causes of the conflict. According to the official, first of all, it is necessary to eliminate threats to Russia's security in connection with NATO expansion and Ukraine's involvement in the military bloc.

"It is no less important to ensure respect for human rights in areas that are still under the control of the Kyiv regime, which after 2014 destroyed everything related to Russia, Russians, and people who speak Russian: Russian, cultural, traditional, canonical Orthodox, Russian-speaking media," said Foreign Minister Lavrov.

"There is a need for international law recognition of the new territorial reality that emerged with the merger of Crimea, Sevastopol, DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions into Russia. The people there have determined their fate through their free expression of will in a referendum," he said.

Foreign Minister Lavrov added that Ukraine must return to its state origin and follow the enthusiasm and content of the document on which it is based."

"As a reminder, the provisions on the country's neutral, non-block, and nuclear-free status are listed in its 1990 declaration of sovereignty. In August 1991, the legislature adopted the Ukrainian Independence Proclamation Act, which reiterated that provisions in the declaration cannot be contested. The current opening of the Ukrainian Constitution refers to the act of proclamation of independence," concluded Foreign Minister Lavrov.