MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. Russia has never asked for talks to buy time for carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine but is ready to listen to reciprocal proposals, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference on European security issues on Thursday.
"When they accuse us of constantly asking for some negotiations in order to buy time to gather additional forces for conducting the special military operation, this is both ludicrous and repulsive because people tell lies and do it openly," the top diplomat stressed.
"We have never asked for any talks but we have always said that if someone has any interest in a negotiated solution, we are ready to listen," Lavrov insisted.
Russia’s chief diplomat recalled that in March the Ukrainian side requested that Moscow listen to them and after several rounds of negotiations handed over a document with settlement principles to the Russian side.
"These principles stipulated ensuring Ukraine’s security by honoring its non-aligned status, which meant that it would not join NATO, and by respecting its nuclear-free status, implying that [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky would no longer say that it was a mistake to give up nuclear weapons in 1994, and the provision of Ukraine’s security by granting it collective guarantees not from NATO but from five UN Security Council permanent members, with Germany and Turkey also mentioned," Lavrov elaborated.
"We agreed with that," the Russian foreign minister said.
"We were ready to agree with them on those principles that they themselves put forward but they were not allowed to do that because the conflict had not yet sufficiently enriched those who oversee it and direct it and this is primarily done by the United States and of course, by the British," Lavrov specified.