As Europe’s Coalition of the Willing gang throws everything they have to change the subject on U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace negotiations over Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sent a clear message to Washington. In a Dec. 15 interview with Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, he singled out the burgeoning maturity in Washington, saying:
“The United States is trying to get to the bottom of this issue. The latest contacts with the Americans did inspire some hope that they developed a deeper understanding of our position. They are beginning to understand what needs to be done to achieve a reliable and lasting resolution for this conflict instead of having yet another truce in order to once again pump Ukraine full of weapons. This is work in progress. We are waiting for the United States to share its feedback regarding their contacts with the Ukrainians.”
But he made clear on what level the process must proceed: “Our position is clear. We need to eliminate the root causes of the crisis, namely the threat to the Russian Federation, created by NATO’s eastward expansion towards our borders and attempts to drag Ukraine into the alliance, as well as the refusal to discuss our proposal on collective security measures,” Lavrov went on.
“Today, we must address these root causes. The fact that the United States understood this is a positive development. They made it clear that Ukraine cannot join NATO and that the territories where Russians have been living for centuries must become Russian, and that the Russian language, culture and the rights of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church must be restored.”
