MOSCOW, September 6. /TASS/. The only meeting of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with then Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba that took place on March 2022 in Turkey lacked anything new and constructive, Russia’s top diplomat said.
Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said on September 4 that Kuleba, who had led the country's Foreign Ministry since March 2020, submitted his resignation. On Thursday, the parliament approved it in a vote.
"The only time I saw him on the case was at a diplomatic forum in Antalya. This is an annual event organized by Turkey. Mevlut Cavusoglu was then foreign minister, he called and said he really wanted me to arrive, because the Ukrainian side, Dmitry Kuleba in particular, proposed the Turkish one an idea of meeting with me," Lavrov said in an interview with RBC. "They asked that this meeting be not one-on-one, rather in the presence of the Turkish minister. Given that we had hardly ever engaged in dialogues, I clarified how serious it was. Very serious, they assured me, for Kuleba said he really had something to convey."
The minister noted making an exception while visiting Antalya - there were no plans to participate in this diplomatic conference, because it did not fit into the schedule. "But the Turks asked insistently, and I reported to the Russian president that the Ukrainian colleagues were going to give us something. The three of us met in Antalya in a private room," the Russian foreign minister continued. "Mevlut Cavusoglu opened the meeting, then passed the floor to Dmitry Kuleba, as to the initiator. Reading in good English from the list, he announced the things we have been hearing day by day since the beginning of the special military operation, even before it started." According to Lavrov, "nothing new or constructive was yielded."
"The actual work was carried out by delegations. Our side was headed by Vladimir Medinsky, the Russian presidential aide, the Ukrainian side lead by David Arahamiya, the senior member of the pro-presidential Servant of the People party [in the Ukrainian parliament]. The rest is history," the Russian foreign minister said. "They met several times in Belarus, then finally agreed in Istanbul on the basis of the principles put forward by the Ukrainians. These principles remain relevant today. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said many times that if they seek negotiations, then let Vladimir Zelensky cancel the decree prohibiting them at least."
Security guarantees
Lavrov recalled that the Istanbul principles guaranteed Ukraine's non-accession to NATO, preserved its non-aligned status and described security guarantees for Ukraine to feel safe.
"Ukraine's non-accession to NATO is part of guarantees provided by Russia. These principles remain in force," the minister said. "At least we are ready to return to them, but surely with the new realities to be taken into account, as more than two and a half years have passed since that moment. Russian President Vladimir Putin told about these realities while giving his speech in the Foreign Ministry on June 14. He set out a way of settling the situation between Ukraine and Russia and the West."
Details of the meeting
Lavrov added that during the meeting Kuleba delivered nothing except the official position. "Later I asked Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu where the very message he [Kuleba] wanted to convey was. The latter was also surprised," the Russian foreign minister pointed out. "Personally, I had not thought there might be any possible negotiation. The negotiation process is underway. By that time it took place in Belarus. Let's proceed from the fact that all the details could be discussed there, I told them."