(Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by TASS news agency as saying that Moscow’s proposals for a settlement in Ukraine are known to Kyiv and either Ukraine is implementing them in its own interest or the Russian army will decide the issue.
“Our proposals to demilitarize and disarm the territories controlled by the regime, eliminate threats to Russia’s security emanating from there, including our new lands, are known to the enemy,” Lavrov was quoted as saying by the official news agency late. Monday.
“The point is simple: get it done for your own good. Otherwise, the Russian military will decide.”
Moscow described its invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation” in order to “disarm” and “discredit” its neighbor. Kyiv and its Western allies describe it as an imperial-style aggression to seize territory.
In September, Moscow announced that it had annexed Ukraine’s four provinces – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson – after holding so-called referendums that Kyiv and its allies rejected as sham and illegal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Moscow was open to negotiations and blamed Kyiv and its Western backers for not holding talks, a position Washington has previously denied as a stance amid Russia’s relentless attacks.
Lavrov told TASS that when it comes to how long the conflict will last, “the ball is in the court of the regime and Washington is behind it.”
There is no end in sight to the war, which has entered its eleventh month and which has claimed thousands of lives, displaced millions and reduced cities to rubble.
Kyiv ruled out ceding any land to Russia in exchange for peace, and publicly demanded that Russia give up all lands. Moscow insisted it was seeking “disarmament” and “disarmament” but in reality its goals were not fully defined.
Additional reporting by Oleksandr Kojukhar in Kyiv. Writing by Lydia Kelly and Ron Popeski; Editing by Sandra Mahler
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