By Leaving Istanbul Agreements Kiev Made Major Step Back, Top Diplomat Says

The US and other Western states seek to devalue the veto power in the UN Security Council, but it is a dangerous trend, Russian Foreign Minister said

© Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. Ukraine took a major step back by abandoning agreements reached in Istanbul with Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Russian TV Monday.

"I think that this step or two steps back were made above all on the advice of our American and British colleagues, may be, the Poles played some part here, the Balts. They reverted from the positions that we were ready to take as a foundation and told them about this," he pointed out.

Statements made by Polish authorities clearly indicate Warsaw’s intent to send its forces to Ukraine under NATO peacekeeping flags, Lavrov said.

"When shipping weapons and basically advertising their efforts in this area, all leaders state that sending NATO troops [to Ukraine] is not an option. Except for Poland, whose Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki proposed some peacekeeping operation in Ukraine, being clearly interested in sending its servicemen there under peacekeeping flags," Lavrov said.

The US and other Western states seek to devalue the veto power in the UN Security Council, but it is a dangerous trend, Russian Foreign Minister said.

"Right now, the Americans and other Western states are trying to devalue this veto power by delegating UN Security Council prerogatives to UN General Assembly, where, […] by twisting arms, blackmailing, threats, up to threats against delegations’ bank accounts, places of education of their children, […] they gain a forced, forcefully achieved majority. This is a dangerous trend, because the Security Council, with its five permanent members that have veto power, is the last remaining island of international law," he said.

The current situation in Ukraine will result in a treaty but its parameters will be defined by the actual combat situation, Lavrov said.

"Like in any situation when the armed forces are used, of course, everything will end up with a treaty yet the parameters of this treaty will be defined by that stage of military actions when this agreement will become a reality," the Russian top diplomat said.

The West supports Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky hoping that this way it will be possible to cause some sort of irreparable harm to Russia, Lavrov said.

He noted that "such speculations are underway here." "And what if Zelensky manages to cause some irreparable harm to Russians and conquer them at a battlefield when Russians will have to beg for mercy and agree on less advantageous conditions than they counted on," the Russian top diplomat said talking about the West’s motivation to support the Ukrainian president.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky did not look at an updated draft of a treaty with Russia, this shows his attitude to negotiations, Russian Foreign Minister said.

"A week ago, after another video conference, we passed on to them another updated version of the treaty which took into account their recent comments, as it usually happens. And so, we have been waiting for a week, when a couple of days ago, last week (it has already been possibly five days since we passed on our ideas) when Zelensky was asked at a press conference how he assessed them because we publicly said that such a document went to Kiev, he said: "We received nothing, all of this is not true, we haven’t seen anything," the Russian top diplomat said. "Then it turned out that when we asked the Ukrainian negotiators again why hadn’t they reported to the president if he seems to personally control what is going on at these negotiations, they [said] yes, but he didn’t seem to have time <...>. This yet again shows how he treats the negotiations while he pompously says that he always prefers peace," Lavrov added.

The West denies Russia the right to defend its own borders and territories where Russians are suppressed, Lavrov said.

"Considering themselves to have the right to ensure their security where they see fit, we are being denied the right to defend our own borders and territories where Russians live and where Russians have been suppressed for many years, being subject to shelling, to abuse, with their rights to language, culture, traditions being infringed upon," he said.

Russia is already doing a lot to resolve the current global crisis, Russian Foreign Minister said.

"Russia is already doing a lot," he said speaking of Moscow’s effort to stabilize the situation worldwide.