PANAJI /Goa, India/, May 5. /TASS/. The problems in Ukraine cannot be resolved simply by "freezing" the current line of engagement in Donbass as everyone can clearly see the deep underlying geopolitical roots of what has transpired there, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

"We have never shied away from stepping in to settle the problems created by the practice of the United States and its satellites to pump Ukraine with weapons with which to confront Russia," Russia’s top diplomat said, following a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Goa, India.

"We see a growing understanding that these problems cannot be resolved merely by digging in our heels at the line of engagement in Donbass, as some would seek to ‘freeze’ the line in its current state and only then begin to ponder what steps to take next," Lavrov continued. "Everyone clearly understands the inherent geopolitical nature of what has taken place [in Ukraine]."

According to the Russian foreign minister, all parties involved also understand that, without resolving the main geopolitical issue, which is the West's relentless drive to preserve its hegemony and "impose its will on everyone and everything," no crises - "neither in Ukraine nor in other parts of the world" - can be resolved.

"If one thoroughly studies China’s 12-point [settlement proposal], Ukraine is only mentioned in the document’s title. The rest is about ensuring the indivisibility of security, refraining from steps that infringe on any other country, and refraining from all illegitimate unilateral sanctions," Lavrov stated.

On February 24, China’s Foreign Ministry published a document outlining its position on settling the crisis in Ukraine. It consists of 12 provisions, including calls for a ceasefire, observing the legitimate security interests of all countries, resolving the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, carrying out POW swaps between Moscow and Kiev, and abandoning any unilateral sanctions not backed up by a relevant UN Security Council decision.

Lavrov noted that all these issues must be settled but not with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who is merely "a puppet in the hands of the West," but rather "directly with his overlords."

"We have been prepared to conduct this dialogue for a long time now. We [initially] introduced our proposals back in 2009 and the most recent proposals were delivered in December 2021," the foreign minister said. "The West has arrogantly refused [to engage in this dialogue]."

"However, there is no way to dodge having a dialogue on this issue as well as on the path forward to resolving all of these problems, nor to dodge a return back to [adherence to] the basic principles of the United Nations, primarily the core principle of the sovereign equality of states. Sooner or later, this dialogue will happen and we are prepared for it."

Russia’s special military operation

On February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR). Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with the DPR and LPR leaders. Moscow recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as they existed at the beginning of 2014.

Putin announced on February 24, 2022, that, in response to a request by the heads of the DPR and LPR for assistance, he had decided to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The DPR and LPR launched a joint operation to liberate their territories that were under Kiev’s control.

From September 23 to September 27, 2022, the DPR and the LPR as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions held referendums on joining Russia, in which the majority of voters opted to join Russia.

On September 30, 2022, Putin and the heads of the DPR and LPR, and of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions signed treaties on their accession to the Russian Federation. Later, the State Duma (lower house of Russia’s parliament) and the Federation Council (upper house) approved legislation on ratifying these treaties, as well as federal constitutional laws on the accession of the four regions to Russia.