MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/. Russia doesn't necessarily need Ukraine to be its ally, it would be enough for it to be neutral and not against Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with RT.
"It should be a friendly Ukraine. Not necessarily our ally, but neutral and friendly," he pointed out.
According to Lavrov, this implies respect not only for the rights of the residents of the territory that Ukraine will retain, not only for their rights to access the benefits of civilization, warmth, food, and water, but also for their basic human rights, including language, education, and religion.
"I would like to emphasize once again that the Ukraine which will sign the agreements, must not violate the norms of international law and the norms of the Constitution of Ukraine itself, which guarantee the rights of national minorities," he said.
Lavrov also said Russia had never been the first to strike at energy facilities. "It was the Ukrainians who started the first attacks on energy and other civilian facilities, including residential buildings, shops, hospitals. A year ago, a passenger train was blown up without any military element," he said.
As an example of goodwill on the part of Russia, Lavrov cited March 2025, when President Vladimir Putin supported the proposal of his American counterpart Donald Trump on an energy truce.
"For a month, it was March-April 2025, we did not touch the energy facilities of Ukraine at all. While the Kiev regime has attacked our civilian energy facilities more than 130 times over the same period. Our conscience is clear, and our patience is not unlimited. You need to know the Russian character according to the proverb "score twice before you cut once.’ We have been scoring and drawing conclusions from this for a very long time," Lavrov added.