MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. European countries are intentionally impeding the peace process surrounding Ukraine by encouraging Vladimir Zelensky to continue fighting, though the West remains split in its approaches to a settlement, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament.

"The West is not united [on a Ukrainian settlement], as recent events have again demonstrated. In one of his interviews, [US President Donald] Trump critically assessed Europe’s actions to deliberately stall agreements that could have been reached on Ukraine, removing the root causes that block this path. Nevertheless, Europe continues to hinder the process, relentlessly urging the so-called Ukrainian leadership and regime members to fight 'to the last Ukrainian.' Though, admittedly, they’re running out of money," the foreign minister said.

Lavrov emphasized that Europe’s "ideological fervor" in the context of the Ukrainian crisis is increasingly shaped by financial considerations.

"Because, apart from plundering the Russian Federation and seizing our gold and foreign exchange reserves in violation of all conceivable norms of international and commercial law, they have no other means to fund this war. This is despite the fact that more countries, including several EU member states and opposition parties in EU and NATO countries, recognize the futility and hopelessness of continuing this policy," the foreign minister concluded.