Russia’s foreign minister probed Ukraine’s peace plan at the United Nations over the weekend, saying the war had to be resolved “on the battlefield” if more “realistic” terms could not be offered.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Ukraine’s 10-point peace plan “absolutely unworkable” at a news conference following a speech at the General Assembly Saturday, insisting it was “impossible to implement.”
“It is unrealistic and everyone understands this, but at the same time, they say this is the only basis for negotiations,” Lavrov said.
The plan was first proposed by President Volodymyr Zelensky in October 2022 and calls for the return of Ukrainian territory since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Also included in the peace plan was a tribunal for the prosecution of Russian war crimes, national food security through the protection of the hotly contested Black Sea trade route, and several other measures including the safe return of nuclear power plants, along with an official end to the war.
Without an amended agreement, Lavrov said Russia had no option for a solution other than continued hostilities.
Lavrov had strong words for both Ukraine and the United States while speaking to reporters at the UN on SaturdayREUTERS
“If you insist on the battlefield, okay, let’s decide on the battlefield,” he said.
Lavrov also criticized the United States and its Western allies, accusing them of actively waging war against Russia with Ukrainian troops.
The US, he said, “is effectively engaged in hostilities with us, using Ukrainians as fodder.”
“You can call this whatever you want to call it, but they are directly at war with us,” he said. “We call this hybrid warfare. But that doesn’t change the reality.”
As Russian drones continue to bomb Ukrainians, Lavrov made no mention of the fighting during a speech on Saturday.REUTERS
During his speech before the General Assembly earlier in the day — delivered before a half-empty room — Lavros blamed the US and its allies for starting and prolonging the war for their own benefit.
“The US and its subordinate Western collectives continue to foment conflicts that artificially divide humanity into hostile blocs and prevent the achievement of overall goals. They are doing everything they can to prevent the formation of a genuine multi-polar world order,” he said.
“They are trying to force the world to play by their own selfish rules.”
Lavrov blamed the United States for starting the war in Ukraine during his speech on Saturday
Beyond that, he said little to address the current fighting in Ukraine.
Lavrov did not meet with Zelensky as world leaders gathered for a week at the UN that heard both the Ukrainian president and US President Joe Biden strongly rebuke Russia in separate speeches.
As Russia finds itself increasingly isolated on the world stage, officials in the country continue to clamp down on public dissent in the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blasted Russia in a fiery UN speech. Getty Images
Outspoken Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., 42, was transferred to a maximum-security prison in Siberia Thursday, where he was placed in a small “punishment cell,” his lawyer reported.
The journalist was sentenced to 25 years in prison earlier this year after being jailed in 2022 for publicly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a speech to the Arizona House of Representatives.
With Postal wire.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
