Lavrov wants to torpedo talks with Bucha ‘council’ Ukraine

MOSCOW, April 5 (EFE)- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that the “provocation” over the alleged massacre by Russian troops in the Ukrainian city of Bucha was aimed at torpedoing talks with Ukraine.

Speaking live, Lavrov said, “The question arises: What is the reason for this huge and false provocation, the truth of which is impossible to substantiate? We think that the reason is the desire to find a reason to torpedo the current negotiations.” on TV.

Describing the alleged Bucha massacre as a “order”, Lavrov complained that the provocation came just when “some light” was finally seen in the negotiations with Kyiv.

All this, he explained, “at the negotiations in Istanbul on March 29, for the first time in the contacts between our delegations, when the Ukrainian side proposed in writing its vision of agreement on Ukraine’s status and security guarantees.”

According to Lavrov, Kyiv then pledged to become a neutral, non-nuclear and non-bloc state, adding to this a refusal to host foreign troops on its territory.

In addition, the Russian minister recalled that the “staging” was held three days after Russian troops de-escalated tensions by leaving the Kyiv and Chernigov regions as a gesture of “goodwill”.

Therefore, he recommended that the West send the “perfect” signal to Kiev not to sabotage the negotiations to resolve the current conflict.

Referring to the agreements signed in February 2015 that ended large-scale conflicts in the Donbas region, “Otherwise we risk repeating the same fate as the Minsk agreements. We will never accept this.”

The Russian minister also warned that Moscow has no intention of “playing cat and mouse” with Ukraine, which he wants to definitively give up on a possible NATO membership.

“We are concerned that the Ukrainian side has decided to demand the suspension of all military actions and the departure of the Russian Armed Forces from Ukraine, if an agreement (with Russia) is reached within a few days,” he said.

He then added that Ukraine will hold a referendum on the agreements with Russia and start the parliamentary approval process.

There are many possibilities that when the referendum turns out to be negative, it will be necessary to restart the negotiation process.”

In addition, Lavrov warned Kiev not to ignore Russia’s demands to “demilitarize” and “demilitarize” the country, and to ensure the defense of the Russian language.

“The international community should know the truth. Russia is ready to work honestly with Ukraine at the negotiating table.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine alleges that Russian troops committed “war crimes” during the occupation and their withdrawal from the Kyiv region, where several hundred people are said to have been killed by enemy soldiers, and the matter will be brought to international justice. EFE

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