Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's answers to questions from Vesti news programme on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, Vladivostok, September 12, 2023
12 September 2023 14:15
1749-12-09-2023
Question: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made quite a splash when he said that Ukraine was ready to hold talks with Russia. If they do get underway, the United States would follow. What do you think about this?
Sergey Lavrov: I have read the statement. It was indeed strange. After all, the Americans micromanage everything the Kiev regime does day in and day out. There is hardly anyone in a better position than they are to know what kind of statements Vladimir Zelensky and his administration make and the documents they adopt. In 2022, Vladimir Zelensky signed an executive order prohibiting any talks with the Russian Government or Vladimir Putin. The whole world knows this. If those directing the actions of this regime decided that the Ukrainians must be ready to enter into talks, the first step would probably be to recommend or order that they rescind the order or decree prohibiting these talks.
As for Russia's positions and allegations that Russia has not demonstrated its readiness or desire to engage in talks, hearing this is rather frustrating for us. I do understand that the US Secretary of State is a busy person, but still he has experts around him who report on what the Russian leaders say, and scrutinise these statements. President of Russia Vladimir Putin has said many times that Russia does not reject talks. Those trying to avoid talks must know that the longer they drag their feet on this matter, the harder it will be for us to find common ground. This is our official position. It was Vladimir Zelensky who signed the prohibition on holding talks into law, so against this backdrop, our position is crystal clear.
April 2022 offers a telling example. At the time, we came very close to coordinating the final version of an agreement, but the United States and the UK prevented Kiev from signing it. This was official. Could it be that Antony Blinken has been having misgivings regarding the role assumed by the United States and decided to white-wash America's position? If so, he did not have much success here.
Question: Some claimed that the goal for his trip to Kiev was to convince Kiev to enter talks.
Sergey Lavrov: I would rather not try to make any guesses on this matter. So far, the Ukrainian regime has been berating everyone, including the Americans, the Europeans, and all other countries, asking for more money, assistance, weapons and ammunition. Representatives of the Ukrainian regime can be heard making statements to this effect every day. Dmitry Kuleba, the so-called colleague of mine, has recently met with Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Kiev and complained on camera that the Germans refuse to supply long-range missile systems. He ended his diatribe by saying that they would end up delivering these weapons anyway. This is the kind of client Ukraine is. Those who created this regime must know how to deal with it.
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