Lavrov complains that Ukraine wants Western guarantees first, not Russian

Kateryna Tyshchenko - Sunday, 1 May 2022, 23:31

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Kyiv had changed its approach to negotiations on security guarantees, and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been "as fickle as the wind."

Source: Sergei Lavrov in an interview with Italian TV company "Mediaset," reported by RIA Novosti 

Details: According to the minister, "some" outlines of an agreement appeared in March in Istanbul, and  in particular Ukraine's readiness to be a neutral, non-aligned, non-nuclear country in exchange for security guarantees. After that, Lavrov claimed, Kyiv has changed its position.

Quote: "Now they are trying to shape negotiations in a different way. Among other things, they want to get security guarantees from the West first, although initially these guarantees should have been agreed by all parties, including Russia."

More details: According to Lavrov, Kyiv is sabotaging talks with Russia, and Zelenskyy has been "as fickle as the wind."

"He can change his position several times in one day," the Russian minister complained.

"I heard him (Zelenskyy - ed.) say that we will not even discuss demilitarisation and denazification during the talks. First, they are sabotaging these talks, just like they have [been sabotaging] the Minsk agreement for eight-years," Lavrov added.

Background: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine has not yet received a list of countries which have confirmed their consent to provide security guarantees, but different countries are clearly ready to provide different guarantees.

Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, called on world states to decide which security guarantees they are ready to provide to Ukraine.