Russia rejects ceasefire in Ukraine without future security guarantees

O head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, today ruled out the possibility of a ceasefire in Ukraine in the context of negotiations between Russians, Ukrainians and Americans that are under way in Abu Dhabi.

“We will not accept another truce, another ceasefire, or whatever they call it, without understanding what will happen next,” said Lavrov, after a meeting in Moscow of the Organization of the Collective Security Treaty (CSTO).

Lavrov accused Europe of trying to “gave a break” once again so that Ukraine can regain strength.

She said that the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, said that there would be no debate on the parameters of the security architecture without ‘a sustainable ceasefire’.

“ This is once again the old logic: they must buy time for their allies, the Kiev regime, and use that time to somehow compensate for the military losses suffered,” he criticized.

Lavrov said that Moscow will not accept this option, in which both Kiev and the Europeans and Russia's partners who wish to receive supplies of Russian and Ukrainian cereals via the Black Sea are interested.

The Russian minister expressed confidence that the United States could continue the dialogue on the security guarantees that both parties will receive at the end of the fighting in Ukraine.

“ Without feeding illusions and having learned from experience, we sincerely hope that this time the US administration will have the determination to continue this dialogue with a view to achieving a fair balance of interests, where no one’s security is vulnerable,” he said.

Delegations from Russia, Ukraine and the United States today started negotiations in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Lavrov insisted that the talks focus, at the suggestion of US mediators, on the discussion of the parameters of the future security architecture for Ukraine, Russia and the whole European region.

He considered the idea of first discussing and establishing clear security guarantees as “absolutely reasonable”, in contrast to the requirement of Brussels and other European Union capitals for an immediate ceasefire.

Lavrov devalued the presence in Abu Dhabi of European representatives, who met with Ukrainian negotiators before work began.

“ As for the participation of Europeans, well, they flew to Abu Dhabi. Sit there in a hotel,” Lavrov said, quoted by the Russian agency TASS.

Negotiations in Abu Dhabi, resumed after five months, aim to find a solution to the war begun with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.