Russia-Ukraine Talks Will Take Place: Russia
Moscow, March 3: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday expressed confidence that the crisis in Ukraine will be resolved and negotiations with Kyiv were expected to take place soon. “Of course, we will find a solution, I do not doubt it. Our minimal conditions are well-known, they are being discussed at the talks with the Ukrainian side as well, as it was in Gomel, as it should be today,” Lavrov told reporters.
The Minister said he was sure that the Western “hysteria” regarding the Ukraine crisis will pass. The Minister said Russia does not build its policy on the principle of “escalation for the sake of de-escalation”, while NATO countries and Ukraine were the ones talking about the possibility of a nuclear war. “There is no escalation for the sake of de-escalation, as Western analysts are trying to impute to us. But the talks about nuclear war are indeed underway. I ask you to look very carefully at the statements that were made and at the people who made these statements,” Lavrov said.
He said the first such statements were made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and repeated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Minister said Russia remained open to having a dialogue with Western countries and NATO too. “We are still open to a conversation (with NATO and the West). It will begin at some point anyway” Russia, he said, believes it was doing the right thing related to Ukraine. He added that Russia does not feel political isolation.
