RIYADH, September 9. /TASS/. The West is not planning to reach a fair agreement with Russia on Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
He made the statement after he attended a meeting of the Strategic Dialogue Between Russia and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.
"The initiative of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky has been out there for a long time. Everyone is sick and tired of it. It is a pure ultimatum. And the fact that the West clings to this ultimatum means only one thing: The West does not want to reach a fair agreement. The West wants to continue to do everything so that Russia, as they hope, approaches a situation when it will be possible to declare that a strategic defeat has been inflicted on us on the battlefield," the minister said.
He said Russia had never treated the "Zelensky's formula" seriously. Moscow "only expressed surprise that someone was buying it," according to Lavrov.
He said numerous Western ideas on Ukraine revolve around the formula and, as a rule, start by calling for a halt to hostilities and for the need to comply with international law, meaning the territorial integrity of Ukraine. However, Lavrov said for Russia the matter is not about territories.
Lavrov mentioned German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ recent statement that it is time to start talks.
"There are hints in the German press and other media: ‘Let's assume that we will have to solve the territorial issue by taking into account the realities on the ground.' This is not about territories. We have never wanted someone else's land. What we want is for people, who are an integral part of the Russian world, Russian culture, Russian language, history, and religion, to be treated humanely, as required by international law, numerous conventions on human rights and the rights of national minorities, and as required, above all, by the United Nations Charter," the minister said.
According to Lavrov, the Kiev regime does not represent people living in eastern Ukraine, and also directly violates the UN Charter, which requires respect for the rights of any person, regardless of race, gender, language and religion.
"With respect to the terrorist attack by the Ukrainian armed forces on the Kursk Region and the ongoing terrorist attacks on facilities in other border regions, I mean Belgorod among others, I want to draw your attention to the words of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, which he said at the Eastern Economic Forum a few days ago, when he called it a sacred duty of our armed forces to liberate the Kursk Region and the entire territory of the Russian Federation in general, where Ukrainian neo-Nazis are doing their lawless acts," Lavrov said.