Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said calls for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine contradict agreements reached in Alaska during Donald Trump-Vladimir Putin meeting, Meduza reported. He made the statement during a press conference with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, RIA Novosti reported.
According to Lavrov, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's "European patrons and masters" are trying to persuade the Americans to change their position and abandon their pursuit of a "long-term settlement". He noted that “such an approach is the complete opposite of what Presidents Trump and Putin agreed on in Anchorage when they agreed to focus on the root causes [of the conflict]“.
“Now we hear from Washington that we should stop immediately, that we should not discuss anything further. Let's stop and let history judge. You see, a simple halt would mean forgetting the root causes of this conflict, which the US administration, since Donald Trump came to power, clearly understands,” Lavrov said.
The minister added that an immediate ceasefire would mean that most of Ukraine “remains under the rule of the Nazi regime, and in that part of Ukraine it will be the only place on earth where an entire language is legally banned, not to mention the fact that it is the official language of the UN and the language spoken by the majority of the population.”