MINSK, April 12. /TASS/. The scrapped Istanbul agreement could provide a foundation for any future talks with Ukraine, but the deal as such is outdated, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
He made the statement following the meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers in Minsk and was commenting on the idea of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who said any talks between Russia and Ukraine should be based on the draft deal that the countries discussed in Istanbul in 2022.
"It was, of course, not about using that specific document as a basis for possible agreements, because the draft agreement, which was ready and initialed in Istanbul, reflected completely different realities. It was, as I understand it, about the principles on which a dialogue should be conducted," he said at a news conference.
"At that time, by the way, the Kiev delegation was still capable of reaching agreements," Lavrov said. "The principle was to realistically assess the situation, assess each other's legitimate interests, legitimate security interests in broad terms, and conclude agreements. Unfortunately, this principle, when the sides directly, without outside interference, seek some mutually acceptable solutions, was undermined in Istanbul. Following the initialing of the document, which reflected the realities at the time, the West intervened, represented by Boris Johnson among other people, the British prime minister at the time, and prohibited [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky from signing off on the agreement, saying that it was necessary to continue the war."
"If Kiev persists in displaying a lack of willingness to reach an agreement, which has never been more apparent than now, it is very difficult to imagine a situation when it will be possible to do something," the minister stated.
Lukashenko mentioned the possibility of revisiting the Istanbul agreement as a basis for any future negotiations between Russia and Ukraine when he met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Thursday. The Russian president expressed agreement with the proposal of his Belarusian counterpart.