Russia Will Not Tolerate Any Ultimatums, Lavrov Says

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, stated that he has informed the Kazakh side in detail about the course of the Russian special operation in Ukraine and shared assessments regarding the slow progress of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations.

“Of course, we discussed the situation in and around Ukraine with our colleagues during the meeting of the Central Asia five and today’s negotiations. We have informed our partners in detail about the course of the special military operation,” Lavrov said during a press conference that followed negotiations with the Deputy Prime Minister on Friday.

According to him, the statements from Kyiv create the impression that it does not need negotiations. “Right now, I wouldn’t speak about venues, but rather about how Ukraine is approaching these possibilities,” Lavrov responded when asked if the possibility of conducting Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Kazakhstan is being considered.

Lavrov also mentioned that the negotiations with Kyiv have reached a deadlock due to the absence of a response from the Russian Federation to its proposals. “We were negotiating, now they have stopped because five days ago, another proposal that we presented to the Ukrainian negotiators, based on their comments received at that time, remains unanswered,” he said.

According to Lavrov, Zelensky does not understand what is at stake, linking the negotiations with the Russian Federation to the situation of soldiers in Azovstal. “The Russian Federation is not negotiating with anyone regarding Ukraine's security guarantees. We are not negotiating on this topic with anyone,” he stated in response to an appropriate question.

Lavrov emphasized that Russia will not tolerate any ultimatums, including those from Ukraine.