Russia’s Lavrov: Peace Talks With Ukraine ‘Make No Sense’ Now

Date: 20 July 2022 - 21:58

News ID: ۱۰۴۹۲۲

MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Russia said Wednesday that holding peace talks with Ukraine made no sense “in the current situation” as Moscow presses ahead with its offensive in the pro-Western country.

“It doesn’t make any sense in the current situation,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told state media in an interview, referring to peace talks with Kyiv.

Lavrov said that the first rounds of talks with Ukraine proved that Kyiv had no “desire to discuss anything in earnest.”

“They simply will never be able to articulate anything that would deserve the serious attention of serious people,” he added.

“We’ve already figured it out.”

Talks between Russia and Ukraine largely ground to a halt in mid-April, Lavrov said.

Russia’s top diplomat also said that Moscow’s military aims in Ukraine were no longer focused “only” on the country’s east, adding that supplies of Western weapons had changed the Kremlin’s calculus.

Lavrov has said his country’s military goals in Ukraine are no longer limited to the eastern Donbas region but include a number of other territories, according to state media.

Lavrov said that when Russia and Ukraine in March discussed a possible deal to end the hostilities, “our readiness to accept the Ukrainian proposal was based on the geography of March 2022″.

“The geography is different now. It is not only about the DNR and LNR,” Lavrov added, referring to the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR), Russian-backed entities in Ukraine’s east.

“But also the Kherson region, the Zaporizhzhia region and a number of other territories,” he said. “This process is continuing, consistently and persistently.”

Russia staged a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 with the stated goal of “demilitarizing and denazifying” the country.

He also accused the U.S. of preventing Ukraine from engaging in talks on a possible settlement with Russia.

“They are keeping them from any constructive steps and not only pumping in weapons but forcing them to use those weapons in an increasingly risky way,” Lavrov said.

U.S. to Send Four More

HIMARS to Ukraine

On Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the United States will send four more high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) to Ukraine.

Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu earlier this week ordered generals to prioritize destroying Ukraine’s long-range missile and artillery weapons after Western-supplied weapons were used to strike Russian supply lines.

The West has supplied Ukraine with longer-range heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems to help Kyiv hold out despite Russian artillery supremacy in numbers and ammunition.

HIMARS have a longer range and are more precise than the Soviet-era artillery that Ukraine has had in its arsenal.

Austin said the new package would also include rounds for Multiple Launch Rocket Systems as well as artillery munitions.

The latest package would bring the total number of HIMARS the United States has provided to Ukraine to 16.

The United States has provided $8 billion in security assistance since the war began, including $2.2 billion in the last month.