EU ‘completely discredited itself’ in Ukraine peace process – Lavrov
The EU has “completely discredited itself” as a mediator in the Ukraine peace process, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
Kiev’s European backers have demanded to be admitted to the trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine peace talks, yet they have consistently failed to uphold previous agreements, according to the diplomat.
In 2014, France and Germany were the guarantors of an agreement between then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and the opposition, but did nothing when nationalist groups seized power, he said.
The EU failed in its role a second time under the 2015 Minsk Agreements, which were intended to reconcile the new nationalist government in Kiev with anti-coup forces in east Ukraine, Lavrov added.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Francois Hollande, who acted as guarantors to the deal, later admitted “they never intended to fulfill anything” and just wanted to buy time to arm Ukraine, he said.
After the conflict’s escalation in 2022, “a settlement could have been reached as early as April” of that year, if not for interference by then UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and “EU officials,” the top diplomat explained.
The Russian foreign minister accused European leaders of wanting to “preserve the presence of a Nazi regime in Kiev,” which he called a “root cause” of the Ukraine conflict. If allowed, he said the “[Kiev] regime will continue its hostile anti-Russian activities.”
Lavrov rejected plans by France and the UK to deploy troops in Ukraine as part of security guarantees for Kiev, calling it “an occupation force that will pose a threat to the Russian Federation.”
Moscow views the Ukraine conflict as a NATO proxy war against Russia, and has long warned that it would never accept the presence of the US-led military bloc’s soldiers on Ukrainian territory. Russian officials have long warned that any foreign troops in Ukraine would become legitimate military targets.
European nations make demands they know are “utterly unacceptable to Russia” to “sabotage” US President Donald Trump’s diplomatic efforts, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in December. “They have no peace agenda; they are on the side of war,” he added.
