The Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergei Lavrov has stated that the Kremlin intends to end the ongoing war in Ukraine. The Minister made this statement during an encounter with Brazil’s Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira, in a news conference in Brasilia, Brazil.
Lavrov met with the President of Brazil, luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and thanked him for Brazil’s effort to end the Ukraine war. The meeting took place amid the West’s recent criticisms of President Lula’s comments on the defense support to Ukraine from the United States. President Lula encouraged the U.S to initiate a peace deal rather than supplying weapons to Ukraine.
The Russian Minister heaped praises on the Brazilian President, Lula da Silva, for his effort to end the conflict, by urging promotion of diplomatic channels to de-escalate the war in Ukraine.
Even before Sergei Lavrov’s visit, the Brazilian President, Lula da Silva had proposed the creation of a group of countries that will lead the mediation of the war. He had even made plan to discuss it with China, but reports on that discussions are yet to be disclosed.
While commenting on the interest to end the war, Lavrov reiterated Russia’s stance that any diplomatic solutions must acknowledge the importance of its unilateral annexation of the four Ukrainian regions.
Lavrov averred, “We are interested in the Ukrainian conflict ending as soon as possible. We have already announced in details the reason for what is happening and the very goals we are pursuing in this regard.”
“They consist primarily in guaranteeing the absence of any threats to the military of Russia Federation on the territory of Ukraine, and the West have been implementing such plans for many years. And the second task, of course, is to protect the lives and legal rights of the Russian-speaking population of the east and south of Ukraine.”
Sergei Lavrov
Meanwhile, Ukraine has always maintained the stand that, an end to the war means, Ukraine taking back the Peninsula of Crimea and four annexed regions of Ukraine.
Last week, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba said, “Real peace means restoring the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine. Real peace means, a safe homeland for the targeted people in the Ukrainian Crimea.”
Russia-Ukraine Relations
The relationship between Russia and Ukraine has been deteriorating, since the independence of Ukraine in 1991. The collapse of the Soviet Union saw a massive breakaway of countries, of which Ukraine was part.
The Putin’s administration after his assumption to power in 2000, had always wanted these former Soviet nations to cling towards the political and economic directions of Russia.
The Kremlin has long been issuing warning to the former Soviet nations to desist from any attempts to join the NATO Military Alliance, and will draw some response from Russia if a country does so. The warning pulled no threats as Latvia, Estonia, Poland, and other recognized former Soviet countries has since joined NATO.
The Russia-Ukraine tension heightened in 2013, after the then Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych snubbed the EU’s economic pacts to accept a monetary offer from Russia.
The move by the former Ukrainian President, drew numerous criticisms from the west and Ukrainian citizens, who had long wanted to join the European Union. Viktor Yanukovych, who was seen as a puppet to the Kremlin, was ousted from power after months of demonstrations against his decision.
In a response to the west and the Ukrainian oppositions, who orchestrated the coup against Viktor Yanukovych, Kremlin ordered the annexation of Crimea in February 2014. Also the eastern part of Ukraine, which is a Russian speaking region has made an attempt to gain independence from Ukraine, and has sparked conflict between the Ukrainian government and the rebels from the eastern part of Ukraine.
Even before the invasion of Ukraine, heavy fighting had been going on in Ukraine since 2014, between the central Ukrainian government and the rebel opposition from the Donbass and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. The rebels were gaining logistical support from the Kremlin.
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