Kyiv, Feb 24 (UNI) A ceasefire in Ukraine without eliminating the root causes of the conflict threatens to have grave consequences, including for Russian-US relations.
Moscow does not want this and explained its position to US representatives at a meeting in Riyadh in great detail, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
"Today, we have not developed a greater understanding. We can probably record with sufficient confidence the desire of the American side to move towards a quick ceasefire. But, as was emphasised both in Riyadh and earlier, a ceasefire without a long-term settlement is a path to a quick resumption of hostilities and a resumption of the conflict with even more grave consequences, including consequences for Russian-US relations. We do not want this," Ryabkov said.
According to the diplomat, "we need to find a long-term solution, which, in turn, must necessarily include an element of overcoming the root causes of what was happening in and around Ukraine."
"The special military operation is deeply motivated. It could not help but begin. We simply had no alternative, since those underlying causes of the crisis were maturing largely as a result of the destructive policy of Washington and European capitals in the Eastern European direction, in the direction of Ukraine, which had been carried out for decades. In the end, everything led to this crisis. Accordingly, now without addressing the causes of the conflict — and they are in the expansion of NATO, completely unrestrained, in ignoring the fact that people came to power in Kiev as a result of a coup, and subsequently the Western group rejected the Minsk agreements — we have repeatedly said this. We must deal with non-expansion of NATO, we must deal with ensuring the rights of the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine, which have literally been trampled. Without all this, a long-term solution will not work," the deputy minister said.
"A ceasefire in itself is not a solution. We have a different approach and different guidelines, which was stated directly by Russian President [Vladimir Putin], and which our high-ranking representatives spoke about in Riyadh with the utmost clarity and in great detail," Ryabkov added.
High-level Russian-US talks were held in Riyadh on February 18. On the Russian side, they were attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, and RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev, while the US side was represented by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the US leader's special envoy for the Middle East Steven Witkoff.
As Lavrov stated, during the first face-to-face talks in a long time, Russia and the US agreed to create conditions for a full resumption of cooperation and its expansion to new areas of mutual interest.
In particular, Moscow and Washington agreed to eliminate artificial restrictions on the work of embassies and other foreign institutions, and to create high-level working groups to begin work on a resolution of the crisis in Ukraine.
UNI SPUTNIK ARN