UNITED NATIONS, September 24. /TASS/. Russia is ready for negotiations on Ukraine, but will not consider ceasefire proposals, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters at a news conference to sum up the results of his work during the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
Addressing the Assembly’s general political debate, Lavrov called the West an "empire of lies" and urged to prevent an all-out war. Later, he expressed Russia’s views to reporters at a news conference.
TASS gathered the minister’s main statements.
"Empire of lies" and "major war"
"As Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, the West is truly an ‘empire of lies,’" the top Russian diplomat said. "The Americans and the Europeans, who are used to looking down their noses at the rest of the world, are eager to make promises and undertake commitments, including written and legally binding ones, but are reluctant to fulfill them," Lavrov said.
"A new world order is being born right before our very eyes," he added. "The future is taking shape in the process of a standoff between the global majority demanding fairer distribution of global riches and advocating diversity within our civilization, and between the few who employ neo-colonial methods of subjugation in an attempt to save their fleeting dominance."
"Nowadays, humanity is once again, as many times before, at a crossroads. It depends only on us to determine how history will evolve. It is in our shared interest to prevent spiraling down into a major war as well as the eventual collapse of international cooperation mechanisms that were created by generations of our predecessors," the minister said during the General Debate.
Negotiations on Ukraine
Russia is ready to negotiate about Ukraine, put has no plans of considering ceasefire proposals: "[Russian President Vladimir] Putin commented on it, he said very clearly: yes, we are ready for negotiations, but we will not consider any proposals for a ceasefire, because we’ve considered it once, but you deceived us."
At the same time, Russia will not encourage Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to lift Kiev's ban on talks with Moscow: "No one is going to give him any engagements."
The so-called peace formula, proposed by Zelensky "is absolutely unworkable." "It is simply unworkable, and everybody knows it."
Ukraine’s borders
Russia respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity "on the conditions" enshrined in the country’s declaration of independence.
"The declaration has lots of good things, including respect of national minorities and their rights, respect for Russian and other languages - it makes a direct mention of the Russian language. <…> However, the main aspect reflected in the declaration was Ukraine’s commitment to be a neutral country that does not join any military alliances."
West’s role in conflict
Western countries are actually waging a war against Russia under the guise of supplying weapons and intelligence to Ukraine, and are "fighting against us with the hands and bodies of Ukrainians." "Call it what you will, but they are fighting against us, they are directly fighting against us. We call it a hybrid war but this doesn’t change the situation."
In addition, he said that the West was providing satellite information and other intelligence to Kiev. "We have read reports about the position of Elon Musk and his Starlink company. However, military satellites are being widely used and reconnaissance planes conduct flights. Those reconnaissance planes, primarily US and British ones, not only assist the military in aiming at targets but also monitor from where our air defenses operate," Lavrov said.
Nobody in the West "wants to earnestly show their understanding of the situation, including those who do understand it but do not actually want to make it public." "[They say that] Russia must be defeated on the battlefield altogether. <…> And under these circumstances, if it is on the battlefield, so be it on the battlefield."
About Nagorno-Karabakh issue
Russia’s peacekeeping mission will fully support the restoration of peaceful life in Nagorno-Karabakh, "now that the authorities in Yerevan and Baku have resolved the issue of recognizing the two countries’ sovereignty." Attempts by Brussels to impose its mediation services on Azerbaijan and Armenia together with Washington are "destabilizing the South Caucasus."
Armenia has a powerful pro-Western lobby operating to undermine Russia’s influence. "We view this as artificially whipped-up passions. I will repeat that we know who takes an interest in this and who is in charge."
Moscow believes that the people of Armenia "link their history to Russia and other friendly countries," but "not to those who come from across the ocean."
Grain deal
The Ukrainian part of the grain deal will resume 'as soon as everything that is written down in the Russian part of the package deal works, <…> on the same day."
At the same time, Moscow explained to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "why his proposals won't work." "We do not ignore them, they are simply impossible to implement."
Remarks by Guterres
Lavrov said he had asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to provide facts substantiating his claims about the "abduction" of children in Ukraine, made during a session of the UN Security Council. "No response has been given to me yet, but I still asked him to answer this question, because it is a serious issue."
Work during General Assembly
Russia has held more than 30 meetings at the United Nations, and there are new and promising projects. "Honestly, I can tell you that I had no time to be bored. Yesterday, I began my work at 8 a.m. and called it a day at 8 p.m." he said. "I’m working here, because there are lots of things to be done."
Russian delegates "are working with those who respect themselves and who will not betray their national interests on Washington’s commands."
The goal of the Russian delegation’s participation in the General Assembly’s work was to deliver Moscow’s vision about the future of international relations and the importance of "searching for mutual consent on the basis of mutual respect for all countries without exception." "This view is gaining more and more support in the Global South, but the collective West is trying to resist it.".