Root causes of Ukraine conflict must be addressed – Lavrov
Moscow remains committed to achieving a lasting peace with Ukraine and addressing the “root causes” of the conflict, as Russian President Vladimir Putin and US leader Donald Trump agreed during their talks in Alaska, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
The top diplomat made the remarks on Tuesday, apparently responding to the latest change in Trump’s rhetoric. Over the weekend, the US president called for an immediate halt of the hostilities along the current front lines, urging the two sides to “leave it the way it is right now” and negotiate “something later on.”
“Russia hasn’t changed its position compared to the understandings reached during lengthy negotiations [in Alaska] – the consensus reached back then, which President Trump succinctly formulated when he said that a long-term, sustainable peace is needed, not an immediate, pointless ceasefire,” Lavrov said.
Moscow remains “fully committed” to this formula, the foreign minister stressed, adding that he reaffirmed the position to the US on Monday when speaking to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Lavrov firmly rejected the latest calls made by Washington to “stop immediately” and “let history judge,” adding that such an approach would not bring a lasting peace.
“Simply stopping means forgetting the root causes of this conflict, which the American administration, since Donald Trump’s arrival in office, has clearly understood and articulated,” he stated.
Moscow has repeatedly said it is seeking a lasting settlement to end the Ukraine conflict rather than a temporary halt in the hostilities, which it has claimed would only give breathing room to Kiev and allow its Western backers to bolster it militarily.
Russia maintains that a long-term solution requires Ukraine to commit to neutrality, demilitarization, denazification, and recognition of the new territorial realities on the ground. Kiev, however, has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire while ruling out making territorial concessions to Russia or heeding any other demands.
