Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that granting Ukraine and Moldova the status of a candidate member of the European Union is part of a geopolitical maneuver against Russia.
Lavrov added in an article in the Russian newspaper Izvestia that “Germany and France have killed the Minsk-2 agreements and now they are asking the Russian Federation to negotiate with Kyiv.”
He continued: “German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s demand for Russia to conclude an agreement on guarantees with Kyiv is meaningless, because such a document already exists.”
He noted that Berlin and Paris, “declaring themselves as guarantors of the Minsk agreements, over the past seven years have not gone to force Kyiv to a direct dialogue with representatives of the Luhansk and Donetsk republics to agree on their status as a subject of Ukraine, and to declare an amnesty for all wanted Kiev residents. two republics. Establishing economic relations with them and holding general elections in the country.
“Western leaders were silent when Kyiv, led by Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelensky, took steps that directly contradicted the Minsk agreements. Moreover, the Germans and the French said that direct dialogue between Kyiv and the Luhansk and Donetsk republics was impossible, and instead blamed Russia,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov noted that the Russian forces, as well as the Donetsk and Lugansk groups, continue to systematically carry out their tasks as part of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
Source: RIA Novosti