Sergey Lavrov: “The West has proven incapable of reaching an agreement not for the first time in history”

Photo: TASS

The West is now pleading for a ceasefire in Ukraine without preconditions – something Vladimir Zelensky categorically rejected just a few years ago, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated, TASS quotes.

"Recall how it all started. Russia is to be strategically defeated on the battlefield. They were practically shouting and going hysterical. Over time, their narrative shifted; they began loudly asserting that Russia must not be allowed to win in Ukraine. Now, they are begging and demanding an immediate ceasefire with no preconditions. This is exactly what Zelensky firmly refused a couple of years ago, when he still championed the goal of a strategic defeat for Russia on the battlefield," Lavrov explained at the 11th Primakov Readings, an international forum of scholars and experts.

He added, "The failure of Western strategy and tactics is clear, yet Europe continues to try."

Lavrov observed that, unlike the West, Russia has maintained consistent approaches to the Ukraine settlement. "President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed these principles in detail during the discussions at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum," he noted. "In contrast, Western leaders’ strategies are constantly shifting, which, in essence, highlights the failure of their original plans," he emphasized.

Russia has already put forward proposals to resolve the Middle East issue in confidential contacts with the United States, Israel, and Iran, and while the responses were positive, no concrete action followed, Sergey Lavrov said.

"We presented our position – both the president and I – and it is straightforward. The key point, which President Putin emphasized yesterday during his meeting with [Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas] Araghchi, is that our proposals for resolving the situation were made quite some time ago," Lavrov said.

"These proposals were conveyed through confidential contacts with the US, Israel, and Iran, including discussions at the highest level. Washington, Tel Aviv, and Tehran all responded positively, but no practical steps have been taken," he added.

Ukraine, according to Sergey Lavrov, has lost its sovereignty since the 2014 coup d'etat, which was orchestrated by Western powers.

Speaking at the 11th Primakov Readings international forum for scholars and experts, Lavrov stated, "When it comes to sovereignty, there is essentially nothing left to discuss. Ukraine has had no true sovereignty since the coup d'etat – an event that was meticulously prepared by the Americans and the British. Although it is now being artificially supported, in reality, Ukraine’s independence has been eroded. The country remains fully accountable and dependent on Western handlers, primarily London, along with Brussels, Paris, and Berlin, which are deeply involved in its affairs."

Lavrov emphasized that the residents of Crimea and Donbass rejected the legitimacy of the coup d'etat, asserting that those who seized power thereafter could not legitimately represent their interests.

"They were labeled terrorists because they refused to submit," Lavrov explained. "Neither Crimea nor Donbass initiated military actions against the parts of Ukraine now under the control of neo-Nazis. Instead, it was the coup plotters who used combat aircraft and tanks to these regions," he recalled.

Sergey Lavrov has emphasized that the path to restoring bilateral Russian-American dialogue is neither straightforward nor swift.

Speaking at the 11th Primakov Readings international forum of scholars and experts, he noted, "This process is certainly challenging. A glance at the current global landscape reveals the complexities involved in fostering this dialogue. While progress may be slow, perseverance and mutual responsibility for the world's future can yield significant benefits for all of humanity - particularly through proactive discussions and crisis prevention, especially amid the tensions we are witnessing today."

Moscow needs ironclad guarantees on Ukraine, because in the case of the West, "trust but verify" is not enough, Sergey Lavrov said.

He stated, "To what extent can we truly trust the West? I believe that even former US President Ronald Reagan's principle of 'trust but verify' falls short." He elaborated, "Verification can take many forms. We might agree on specific mechanisms to monitor compliance with agreements. Intelligence services - both political and military - can play a crucial role in verification. As you know, the SVR (Foreign Intelligence Service – TASS) actively tracks actions that directly threaten Russia. However, we must carefully consider our options. Clear, ironclad guarantees regarding Ukraine are essential – guarantees that should be enshrined in a United Nations Security Council resolution. That said, I remain cautious; with the West, one can never be certain. The Security Council has already disregarded such guarantees multiple times."

Lavrov noted that the West has proven incapable of reaching an agreement "not for the first time in history."

"One of the most striking examples is the so-called Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, when Hitler needed to better prepare for war against the Soviet Union, which he did. Now, too, the Minsk agreements, which Germany, among others, guaranteed to sign, were also used to prepare for war against Russia," Lavrov added.

Recent attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities were delivered in gross violation of the UN Charter and resolutions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Sergey Lavrov said.

"The escalation of tensions in the Middle East following the Israeli and US aggression against Iran, including facilities associated with its peaceful nuclear program, was a blatant violation of the UN Charter, the IAEA Charter, and resolutions of the United Nations and the IAEA itself which underlines that attacks on peaceful nuclear sites should never take place, as required by well-recognized international law norms," Russia’s top diplomat emphasized.

"I think citing the right to self-defense shouldn’t confuse anyone because not a single fact or even a credible suspicion has been produced regarding theories that Iran either attacked or was preparing to attack Israel," Lavrov noted. "And by the way, international law does not condone preemptive use of force against a state that has not attacked [the country] seeking to use force," he added.

With its aggression against Iran, including assassinations of political figures, Israel destabilizes the region and potentially creates problems for global security, Sergey Lavrov said.

"Further destabilization of the Middle East, accompanied by methods like politically-motivated killings of military chiefs and scientists threaten to cause major shocks to global security, to the global economy, and especially to the regime for the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," the Russian foreign minister stressed.

It is too early to draw final conclusions after US President Donald Trump's statements about reaching an agreement on a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, but Russia would welcome such a development, Sergey Lavrov said.

"As for the announcements that have been coming from Washington, Israel, and Tehran since 1 a.m. today, it is very difficult for us to draw any final conclusions and get a clear picture, because President Trump announced that everything is now forever and ever, there is an agreement. They say that the Americans have persuaded Israel to agree to a ceasefire and an indefinite truce, and that our Qatari friends have formulated a similar role with regard to Tehran," he said.

"We would only welcome it if such an agreement exists. But after its announcement there were reports of an exchange of blows between Israel and Iran, so let's not make any hasty conclusions based on fragmentary reports. We are for peace," he said.

Lavrov emphasized that Russia has already presented its proposals for resolving the Middle East crisis through confidential discussions with the United States, Israel, and Iran.

"These proposals were exchanged in discreet contacts with American, Israeli, and Iranian representatives, including high-level conversations," he explained. "Washington, Tel Aviv, and Tehran responded positively, but unfortunately, no concrete steps toward implementation have followed."

While he preferred not to disclose the details at this stage, Lavrov indicated that the proposals aimed to address the core disagreements, particularly regarding the United States and Israel’s efforts to reach an agreement by infringing upon Iran’s right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes - rights that are universally recognized.

"There was a solution we considered realistic," he noted. "Yesterday, the president reaffirmed our readiness: we remain willing to engage if the involved parties are interested and seek our assistance. We emphasize that we do not intend to impose ourselves; our role is to facilitate dialogue if asked."

Moscow and Washington are currently not discussing issues of strategic stability, Sergey Lavrov said.

"We are far from substantive discussions with the Americans on the issues of strategic stability. However, when such conversations resume with the Americans and Europeans, who will change their minds, we must ensure our security without repeating past mistakes," the top diplomat said.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres regularly and openly abuses his powers, which is extremely regrettable, Sergey Lavrov said.

"The position of the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Guterres, a citizen of Portugal - a member state of the European Union and NATO – who regularly and openly abuses his powers, refusing, despite our numerous demands, to call things by their proper names and even assist in obtaining basic information, is extremely regrettable," Lavrov said.

To reinforce his assessment, Lavrov pointed to the UN Secretary General’s reluctance to exercise his authority in securing a list of victims whose bodies were discovered on the streets of Bucha in April 2022. Similarly, he criticized the apparent lack of investigation into the 2014 Odessa tragedy, viewing it as a glaring omission. Lavrov argued that in the West, there is either active encouragement of Nazism's resurgence or a deliberate turn a blind eye to it.

"Anything is deemed acceptable to harm Russia - whether physically on the battlefield or morally and politically – aimed at erasing from history the Great Victory over Nazism, achieved primarily through the sacrifices and efforts of our people," he stated.

Lavrov further accused officials like the UN secretary general of violating Article 100 of the UN Charter, which mandates impartiality and confines their role to administrative functions. He specifically named leaders of organizations such as UNESCO, the OPCW, and the OSCE as examples.

Russia and the United States have not reached a point in their warming relations where dialogue on strategic stability can be restored, Sergey Lavrov said.

"[We may not necessarily reach] an agreement with the administration of US President Donald Trump on reducing strategic offensive weapons. <…> We appreciate it that, unlike the Biden team, the Trump administration is ready for dialogue," Lavrov said. "However, at this stage, the dialogue is not at a stage yet where conclusions regarding strategic tasks facing this dialogue can be made," he noted.

"Quite recently, the Americans asked that a meeting on embassy operations, [and dialogue on] so-called irritants be postponed. It had been agreed for us to move from Istanbul or other locations to our capitals and for them to come to Moscow for consultations, with us visiting them in Washington later," the Russian foreign minister continued. "Well, they didn’t like something about that, or maybe they changed their mind, I don’t know," Lavrov added as he shared what he called quite a positive assessment of his meeting in February in Riyadh, alongside Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz, who was then the US president’s national security advisor.

Lavrov recounted that at the outset of the meeting, Rubio said that Trump’s foreign policy is based on national interests. "[Rubio said] that whenever interests coincide, it would be a crime not to use this happenstance in order to translate it into mutually advantageous, practical, and material projects in the fields of the economy, energy, high technology, space exploration, and etc. And in a majority of instances when interests do not coincide, the onus is on great powers to prevent this lack of coincidence from escalating to confrontation, the more so a hot one. We are on board with such an approach," he shared.

According to Lavrov, Russia is always open to communication with everybody to find compromises.

If the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is allowed to inspect Iran’s nuclear facilities, the concern is that this information could be leaked, as there are no confidentiality safeguards in place now, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi could have provided a more precise report," Lavrov said. "He is now insisting that Iran grant the agency immediate access to its nuclear facilities to verify the whereabouts of enriched materials and assess the situation on the ground. But where are the assurances that this information won’t be leaked? I see no such safeguards."

Lavrov also pointed to broader concerns about the neutrality of international institutions. "This ties into what I mentioned earlier: the West is exerting serious influence over the secretariats of international organizations. In some cases, it’s as though they have been effectively privatized," he remarked. "Western personnel in these bodies – from the UN onward – often disregard the principles of neutrality and the ban on taking instructions from any national government," Lavrov concluded.

Sergey Lavrov has emphasized that comparing Israeli actions against Iran with the Ukrainian conflict is both inaccurate and unjust. Lavrov clarified that the origins of the Middle East tensions differ significantly from those of Ukraine.

He pointed out that the conflict in the Middle East was primarily triggered by Israel's suspicions regarding Iran’s potential violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. However, these suspicions were not confirmed by inspections conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency. In contrast, Ukraine has seriously breached its commitments by moving NATO closer to Russian borders, creating real threats to Russia’s security.

Lavrov stressed, "The threats to our military security and the legislative suppression of everything Russian are the root causes. We could not allow these issues to persist. We are actively preventing them. Therefore, equating these conflicts is simply unfair."

He further criticized Ukraine’s failure to honor the Minsk agreements, highlighting ongoing escalation in Donbass and efforts to seize these territories by force, with plans to establish NATO bases in Crimea. "Everyone knows that the British planned to establish a base on the Sea of Azov," Lavrov stated. "However, there has been no evidence of Iran undertaking hostile actions against Israel."

Addressing cultural and linguistic issues, Lavrov noted that, unlike Ukraine – where efforts are underway to suppress the Russian language despite its status as an official UN language – no other country bans a particular language entirely. "Hebrew is not banned in Iran; synagogues operate there, and Judaism is not prohibited. Likewise, Hebrew is not banned in the Palestinian territories, and Arabic is not banned in Israel."

Russia insists that Ukraine, as required by the documents, maintain a non-aligned neutral status, Sergey Lavrov said.

"We insist that Ukraine's commitment to remain non-aligned is fully respected," he told the XI International Forum "Primakov Readings."

Lavrov said that Moscow "has never had any illusions about NATO." He said that even before the coup in Ukraine, Russia had said that "Ukraine must be committed to the principles on the basis of which it became independent," on the basis of which Russia recognized its independence. Lavrov quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying that Ukraine should have a "non-aligned neutral status and a nuclear-weapon-free status, as stated in the Declaration of Independence." The minister also drew attention to the aggressive nature of NATO, whose raison d'etre is "only to look for enemies," which it will now find in Russia.

Lavrov said that the European Union was "an economic union created to improve lives for the residents of European countries in a socio-economic sense." "We had nothing against it," Lavrov said, referring to Ukraine's aspirations to join the EU.

However, according to him, "since then there has been a radical transformation of the European Union. And this transformation into an aggressive military-political bloc continues, in fact, a branch, an appendage of NATO," the Russian minister stressed. He said that under a recent agreement between the EU and NATO "when NATO needs — and such plans are being announced - when it needs to move its troops and equipment to the east, then not the NATO members, but the EU members will be obliged to provide their territory. That is, they are directly involved in preparing for war against our country," Lavrov explained.

…The Primakov Readings forum has been held annually since 2015 in memory of the Russian statesman and diplomat Yevgeny Primakov. The forum discusses scenarios for the development of international relations, challenges in the field of international security, as well as new models of interaction among global political actors. TASS is the main media partner of the event.

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