Russia says Ukraine war will only halt with deal that ‘suits’ Moscow

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russia said Monday (February 23, 2024) it was ready for talks on the three-year old war in Ukraine but would only stop fighting when a peace settlement “suits” Moscow.

Russia also said it was trying to settle the Ukraine conflict with the United States, but that Europe wanted the war to “continue”.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks in Turkey on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with uncertainty hanging over U.S. support for the wartorn country under President Donald Trump and Kyiv ceding ground to Moscow on the front line.

Mr. Lavrov said Moscow was ready to negotiate with Ukraine, Europe or “any representatives who in good faith would like to help achieve peace.”

“But we will stop hostilities only when these negotiations produce a firm and sustainable result that suits the Russian Federation,” he said in a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.

Mr. Lavrov also called on the United States to appoint a representative for future peace talks with Russia, after what he said were his “positive” discussions in Saudi Arabia last week with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday accused Europe of wanting to prolong the fighting, unlike the United States.

“The Europeans continue on the path of a sanctions nosedive, on the path of conviction in the need to continue the war,” Peskov told reporters after the EU hit Moscow with a new round of sanctions.

“This conviction of the Europeans completely contrasts with the mindset of finding a settlement on Ukraine, which we are now doing with the Americans.”