Moscow is open for dialogue, the Russian Foreign Minister stressed
MOSCOW, July 13. /tass/. Russia has not changed its position on the issues necessary to resolve the situation in Ukraine. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an interview with the newspaper " <url>".
"Our position has not undergone drastic changes. We are open to dialogue, but we will be guided by our legitimate interests and will measure approaches to a possible settlement with the situation on earth. As for our vision of the settlement, even before the start of the special military operation, we clearly outlined its tasks," the minister replied to the question of which provisions from the Istanbul draft treaty of 2022 on the Ukrainian settlement remain relevant for Moscow, and what has changed in the Russian position since then.
He recalled that among the tasks of the special operation are the protection of the population of Donbass, the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, the elimination of security threats that emanate from the territory of this country. According to Lavrov, during the negotiations between Moscow and Kiev, which took place on the initiative of the Ukrainian side in February - April 2022, "an understanding was reached that Ukraine should return to a neutral non-aligned status, refuse to join NATO, confirm its nuclear-free status."
"In addition, new territorial realities associated with the free expression of the will of residents of the People's Republics of Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions in favor of political unity with Russia should be recognized. The Kiev authorities need to ensure the rights of Russian-speaking citizens and national minorities in Ukraine, including the official status of the Russian language," the minister stressed.
Lavrov recalled the inconclusive international meeting on Ukraine, which was organized by Western countries on June 24 in Copenhagen without the participation of the Russian Federation. "As for the meeting in Copenhagen, its main goal was an attempt to convince representatives of the global South to at least to some extent support the "formula of peace" [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky, which is absolutely unacceptable and unpromising, which we are frankly talking about to our partners from Asia, Africa and Latin America," the head of Russian diplomacy said.
"Since the conflict, rooted in the coup in Ukraine in 2014, has a geopolitical dimension, it will also be necessary to resolve the issue of Russia's security guarantees on our western borders. Let me remind you that this was the goal of the initiative put forward by [Russian] President Vladimir Putin in December 2021. Then the West, represented by the United States and NATO, arrogantly rejected it," the minister concluded.
Ukraine - NATO Council
Earlier, following the meeting in Copenhagen, the German ARD TV channel, citing its own sources, reported that official negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine could take place as early as July.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, following the results of the first day of the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11, said that the member countries of the bloc had taken "three steps towards Ukraine": it was decided not to require Ukraine to implement the Action Plan for NATO membership, a multi-year program of military assistance to Kiev was approved, and the creation of the Ukraine-NATO Council was approved. As Stoltenberg noted, the alliance intends to ensure that after the end of the conflict, Ukraine has effective agreements in the field of security.
