Russia Says Ukraine Chose To Step Back By Ignoring Istanbul Deal, Alludes To US To Poland

Menteri Luar Negeri Rusia Sergei Lavrov Wikimedia Commons Kremlin ru Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation

JAKARTA - Ukraine is taking a major step back by ignoring the agreement reached in Istanbul with Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Russian TV.

"I think this step or two steps back was made at the suggestion of our American and British colleagues, perhaps, Poland played a role here. They stepped back from the position we were ready to take as a 'foundation' and informed them of this," he said. , launched TASS April 26.

Lavrov further said that the statements made by the Polish authorities clearly show Warsaw's intention to send its troops to Ukraine under the NATO peacekeeping banner.

"When sending weapons and basically advertising their efforts in this area, all the leaders stated that sending NATO troops (to Ukraine) was not an option," Lavrov said.

"Except for Poland, whose Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki proposed some peacekeeping operations in Ukraine, which is clearly interested in sending its soldiers under the banner of peacekeeping," Lavrov continued.

Regarding the veto right, Foreign Minister Lavrov considered the desire of the US and other Western countries to try to devalue the veto power at the UN Security Council as a dangerous trend.

"Currently, America and other Western countries are trying to devalue this veto, by delegating the prerogative of the UN Security Council to the UN General Assembly, which, by twisting arms, extorting, threatening, to threats to the bank accounts of the delegates," he said. .

Foreign Minister Lavrov said the current situation in Ukraine would result in an agreement, but the parameters would be determined by the actual fighting situation.

"As in any situation when armed forces are used, of course, everything will end with an agreement. However, the parameters of this agreement will be determined by the stage of military action, when this agreement will become a reality," he said.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, continued Foreign Minister Lavrov, did not see the updated draft agreement with Russia, indicating his attitude towards negotiations.

"A week ago, following another videoconference, we presented them with an updated version of the agreement that took into account their most recent comments, as is usually the case," he said.

"So we have been waiting for a week, when a few days ago, last week (it has probably been five days since we presented our ideas) when President Zelensky was asked at a press conference how he judged them, because we publicly said that such documents went to Kiev, he said: "We received nothing, none of this is true, we haven't seen anything," the diplomat continued.

"Then it turned out that when we again asked the Ukrainian negotiators why they didn't report to the president, if he seemed to be personally in control of what was going on in these negotiations, they (said) yes, but he didn't seem to have the time. This again shows how he treats negotiations, while he arrogantly said that he always preferred peace," Lavrov said.

He added that Russia had done a lot to resolve the current global crisis.

"Russia has already done a lot," he concluded speaking of Moscow's efforts to stabilize the situation around the world.