Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov held a presser where he shared his opinion on the most crucial global issues and commented on unfolding trends in the world’s politics.
Russia has not received any serious proposals for talks with Ukraine since the 2022 meeting in Istanbul, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday.
At the same time, Russia has never given up on the idea of peace negotiations with Ukraine, Lavrov said, adding that this question has been raised many times, including with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"There have been no serious appeals to us regarding the negotiations. By serious, I mean proposals that are really aimed at ensuring the legitimate interests of the parties involved. There are no such proposals," Lavrov said at a press conference at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
Russia does not count on Switzerland's efforts toward a peaceful settlement in the Ukraine conflict as the country has long lost its neutrality, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday, adding that he had told this to his Swiss counterpart, Ignazio Cassis.
"We do not rely heavily on Switzerland's services. Switzerland has traditionally been a venue and a country that has helped in every possible way to reach compromises, agreements in negotiations due to its neutrality. It lost its neutrality long ago ... I said this frankly to my colleague [Cassis] when we were talking to him in New York," Lavrov told a briefing.
On January 15, Swiss President Viola Amherd said that VolodymyrZelensky had asked Bern to host a peace summit on Ukraine. Kiev wants to hold summits to approve Zelensky's "peace formula," the Ukrainian presidency explained. Cassis later stressed that Russia needed to be part of any peace process related to the Ukraine conflict.
Any practical steps to normalize relations between Turkiye and Syria are impossible at the moment because of the situation in the Gaza Strip, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday.
"We reiterate our interest in promoting the normalization of relations between Syria and Turkiye ... We have been working on this and, in fact, we continue to work on it, but practical steps are not possible now because what is happening in the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian territories directly affects all participants in this process," Lavrov said at a press conference at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
The bombing by the United States of certain facilities belonging to pro-Iranian forces, and US attacks on Iraq, Syria and Yemen, is a distraction to this process, he added.
Russia will deploy additional weapons in the newly created Moscow and Leningrad military districts in response to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday.
"We have already taken organizational decisions and created the Moscow Military District and the Leningrad Military District. Additional weapons will be deployed there, which will be adequate to the challenges that may appear on the territory of Finland and Sweden," Lavrov told reporters.
It was surprising to learn how quickly the two countries abandoned their neutrality, which had served them well for decades, the top Russian diplomat said, adding that years of good neighborliness had gone to waste.