Russia-Ukraine Negotiations Will Continue, But New Territorial Reality Must Be Recognized

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. (Twitter/@mfa_russia)

JAKARTA - Moscow expects negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to continue, but a "new territorial reality" must be acknowledged and a new security guarantee system was established, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a statement published on Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces. Russia now controls less than a fifth of Ukraine.

"In order for peace to last, new territorial realities must be recognized and formalized in international law provisions," Foreign Minister Lavrov said in an interview with Kompas Indonesia newspaper, according to a transcript available on the Russian Foreign Ministry website.

"A new security guarantee system for Russia and Ukraine must be formed as an integral element of a pan-continental architecture with equivalent and inseparable security in Eurasia," he continued.

Referring indirectly to Moscow's continuing rejection of Ukraine joining NATO, Foreign Minister Lavrov said "Ukraine must be guaranteed neutral, non-block and non-nuclear status."

Ukraine says Russia has the right to decide whether Kyiv can or cannot join, while NATO says Russia cannot have veto rights over alliance membership formed in 1949 to counter the threat of the Soviet Union.

US President Donald Trump, who held a summit with President Putin in Alaska in mid-August and then met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the main leaders of the European and NATO alliances at the White House in an attempt to end the war, said on Tuesday he was "very disappointed" by the Russian leader.

President Trump estimates President Zelensky and President Putin will meet after the summit. President Zelensky said Russia was doing everything it could to prevent the meeting, while Russia said the agenda for such a meeting was not yet ready.

Foreign Minister Lavrov said the heads of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations had been in direct contact.

"We hope the negotiations will continue," said Foreign Minister Lavrov.