All news

Fighting to end when Kiev meets Putin’s conditions, says Lavrov

"And only when we realize that these terms are being implemented, that very minute we, as he put it, will stop hostilities," the top Russian diplomat said

MOSCOW, June 14. /TASS/. Hostilities will stop as soon as Kiev has met the conditions put forward by President Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"I am not going to read the tea leaves, but I think you yourselves understand what to say now, 'What if…'," he told reporters when asked to comment on the West’s possible next steps after the Russian president laid out the conditions for resolving the Ukraine conflict.

When asked about whether Russia could believe that it will not be deceived, Lavrov said, "Of course, we cannot. That is why it was spelled out as it was spelled out. We are ready to resolve this issue only under the terms that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has laid out. And only when we realize that these terms are being implemented, that very minute we, as he put it, will stop hostilities."

President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the leadership of the Foreign Ministry that Ukrainian forces need to withdraw from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions. He said that as soon as Kiev declares it is ready to do this and really starts withdrawing its troops from those regions, and as soon as it formally renounces its plans to join NATO, Russia "will immediately order a ceasefire and embrace talks."