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Moscow will not agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine unless sweeping sanctions against Russia are lifted and Western countries return hundreds of billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
“Anti-Russian sanctions must be lifted, all legal claims against Russia dropped and assets seized in the West returned,” Lavrov said in an interview with the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet published Monday.
Lavrov reiterated the Kremlin’s position that any resolution must address the “root causes” of the conflict that it launched against its neighbor in February 2022.
Russian officials have repeatedly invoked the term “root causes,” which Putin said include Ukraine withdrawing from the partially Ukrainian regions and abandoning its NATO bid.
Lavrov also insisted that the international community formally recognize Crimea and the partially occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions as part of Russia.
He cited referendums held in the fall of 2022 which were widely condemned by international observers as illegitimate and conducted under coercion and military occupation.
He also said that Russia remains “open to a political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict,” but warned that Moscow does not seek “a temporary cessation of hostilities” that would allow Ukraine and its Western allies to regroup.
“The goal should be a lasting peace,” he said, dismissing any proposals that would merely freeze the current front lines.
“Russia does not seek a pause that would enable Ukraine’s government and its foreign supporters to regroup, continue mobilization and reinforce military capacity,” he said.
Russian and Ukrainian delegations exchanged memoranda outlining conditions for a potential ceasefire during negotiations in Istanbul on June 2. The documents revealed stark differences in positions, several of which are likely to be irreconcilable.
The two sides have not held direct talks since then.
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