Lavrov: Europe Has Withdrawn from Ukraine Talks

By Staff, Agencies

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Western Europe forfeited its role in the Ukraine crisis long ago and has effectively “removed itself” from the negotiation process through its own actions.

The top diplomat made the remarks on Sunday to Russian journalist Pavel Zerubin, who asked the minister whether Europe was in its right to “outrageously” push for some role in the negotiations to settle the Ukraine conflict.

“We proceed from the premise… – which I believe is obvious to everybody – that Europe has already removed itself from the talks,” Lavrov said.

Europe long ago “used up its chances” to have a say in the settlement process, the top diplomat said, pointing out that it has repeatedly derailed efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis since its very beginning, when the 2014 Maidan turmoil culminated with a coup and the overthrowal of the democratically elected president.

“Europe spoiled the initial deal of February 2014, when it acted as guarantor for the formal agreement between Viktor Yanukovych and the opposition. It did nothing when the opposition seized all government agencies the morning after the agreement was signed,” Lavrov said.

The top diplomat also pointed at the admissions made by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and ex-French President Francois Hollande, who said “that nobody had intended to fulfill” the Minsk agreements aimed at bringing the civil conflict in then-Ukrainian Donbass to its end.

“The most recent case occurred in April 2022 when, at the demand of the then Prime Minister of the UK Boris Johnson and with Europe’s full acquiescence, if not connivance, the Istanbul agreements were derailed,” the foreign minister said.

European leaders are insisting that any Ukraine peace deal include the EU, following US proposals reportedly calling for Kiev to drop NATO ambitions and limit its army.

Germany, France, and the UK have reportedly drafted their own version of the plan, making it more favorable to Ukraine by removing or softening several of its points. Russia, however, has already signaled that it finds the European proposals “completely unconstructive.”