Lavrov: Europe Has No Place in Ukraine Peace Talks

Europe is trying to get a seat at the negotiating table on Ukraine, but given its position, it has no business there, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a round table on the settlement of the situation around Ukraine. According to him, European leaders are not responsible for anything, but they talk a lot about things they cannot change.

"So-called peacekeepers on the territory of Ukraine will, in fact, be occupation troops and will become legitimate targets for the Russian military," Lavrov stated. Instead, Russia's chief diplomat is optimistic about the settlement process with Washington's participation. "The US administration understands the need to eliminate the primary causes of the Ukrainian conflict, including ruling out Kyiv's membership in NATO," Lavrov noted.

He assured that the Russian army never strikes civilians. Instead, he noted that Kyiv's violations of international humanitarian law are obvious.

Lavrov stated that Ukraine's territorial integrity cannot be prioritized over the rights of people living in a number of territories. "The Americans understand that the residents of Crimea, Donbas, and Novorossiya will never live under the oppression of the current Kyiv authorities," the Russian Foreign Minister stated. According to him, Moscow and Washington have discussed, in particular, such unacceptable actions by Kyiv as the ban on the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Europe was blamed for the conflict in Ukraine not ending. The EU wants to disrupt the peace process on Ukraine, Lavrov stated. According to him, peace is not coming because Kyiv, along with the Europeans, is trying to disrupt the current US line aimed at resolving the conflict.