MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia is against the deployment of Western peacekeeping troops to Ukraine as part of any settlement to end the nearly three-year conflict.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk earlier this month floated the idea of stationing foreign troops to enforce a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
In an interview published Monday by the Russian foreign ministry, Lavrov told the state-run TASS news agency that Moscow opposed that idea as well as others being proposed by US President-elect Donald Trump.
Of course, we are not satisfied with the proposals being voiced by representatives of the president-elect to postpone Ukrainian NATO membership for 20 years and to send to Ukraine a peacekeeping contingent of ‘British and European forces,'” Lavrov said.
Trump, who comes to power in three weeks, has claimed he can strike a peace deal in 24 hours and said he will use Washington’s multibillion-dollar financial and military support to Kyiv as leverage.
NATO’s Involvement in Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Ensuring Ukraine’s non-aligned status remains the goal of Russia’s special military operation, which will be achieved, Lavrov said in his year-end interview with TASS.
“Since NATO’s multi-year expansion was one of the main root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, securing Kyiv’s non-aligned status remains among the objectives of the special military operation that must be achieved,” Lavrov stated.
Lavrov suggested that NATO, which was involved in the invasion of the Kursk Region and strikes with long-range missiles on Russian territory, should “look at itself in the mirror” before accusing Moscow of escalation.
The minister was asked whether the West accuses Russia of escalating the conflict due to the alleged involvement of the North Korean military in the hostilities. “We have already repeatedly commented on this issue, which is constantly fuelled in the West. Recently, the false reports have become even more aggressive. We can respond to them briefly with the words of the well-known saying: ‘If the shoe fits, wear it’,” Lavrov told TASS.
Read also: At Least 176 Killed In South Korea Plane Crash
“Those who accuse Russia of something need to look at themselves in the mirror,” the minister continued. “NATO military personnel and mercenaries are blatantly involved in planning and conducting combat operations alongside the Ukrainian armed forces. NATO is involved in the invasion of the Kursk Region and strikes with long-range missiles on Russian territory. President Vladimir Putin has made this clear in his recent public speeches. What kind of escalation on our part can we even talk about?” Lavrov wondered.
Russia to Stay Away from Ukraine ‘Peace Summit’
Lavrov said that Moscow will neither take part in the “peace summit” nor follow Vladimir Zelensky’s statements.
“It is impossible to guess what Zelensky’s public admission of his inability to regain lost territories by force means. We do not believe statements, but rather facts, especially when it comes to the Kyiv regime,” he added.
Read also: WHO Demands Israel Release Gaza Hospital Director
“I have repeatedly emphasized that we are not going to participate in the ‘peace summit’ even if we receive an invitation,” Lavrov pointed out.
