When asked about a peaceful dialogue with Russia during an interview for ABC News, Zelensky said that he was open to genuine dialogue with Putin. “I am ready for a dialogue. We are not ready for the capitulation because it’s not me. It’s about the people who elected me,” he said.
In this manner, it can be observed that Ukraine had already given in on one of Russia’s demands, and that was for Ukraine not to join NATO as it was a security concern for them. Apparently, this was not enough of a bargaining chip for Ukraine as Lavrov notably said no to both a ceasefire and a humanitarian corridor.
Despite not committing to anything, Lavrov did say that Russia was ready and willing to continue high-level talks as the third round of negotiations between the Kremlin and Ukraine in Belarus had modest progress at best. He also reiterated that Russia had already sent the government of Ukraine various pathways to end the war, presumably those demands earlier said by Russian Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov. In turn, Kuleba stated that these demands were not negotiations but a full-on surrender to Russian forces as it would require them to alter their constitution to become a neutral country.
Lavrov, who is well aware of the military assistance the West is giving Ukraine, notably the MiG-29 fighter planes from Poland and MANPADS from Germany, issued a stark warning to NATO that there will be consequences for their actions if they gave weapons of mass destruction to Ukraine.
“Where these thousands of non-portable anti-aircraft missile systems will end up is the question we ask our colleagues in the European Union. When they are interested in putting an end to a policy that has been deployed over many years of making Ukraine a threat to the Russian Federation, there is no answer as to how this so-called MANPADS will then be controlled,” he said.
Petrifying war crime in Mariupol. Russian air strike targeted a hospital and a maternity house. We could stop this barbarism by protecting our skies. For the sake of humanity, provide us with aircraft, now! Lives are being lost while this is being considered over and over again. pic.twitter.com/CkacLlF0ZQ
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 9, 2022
He then described the West’s moves to supply weapons to Ukraine as “dangerous” and claimed that the maternity hospital that was bombed in Mariupol was used as a base by Ukrainian nationalists. However, there is no evidence to prove this claim. He also noted that the civilian casualties in the war that Russia was accused of killing were just “pathetic cries” from Ukraine and that Russia was only ridding Ukraine of modern-day Nazis.
Despite these threats, Lavrov also emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin was ready to discuss specific issues with Zelensky and that he would not refuse a meeting.
In an apparent reply to the Patriot weapon systems being sent from Germany to Poland as the West fears that Russia might advance further, he replied that they “…do not plan to attack other countries; we did not attack Ukraine either. However, we just explained to Ukraine repeatedly that a situation posed direct security threats to the Russian Federation.”
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