The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, in an interview with Newsweek published on October 7, said that the Kremlin has a "viable plan" to end the war in Ukraine. According to him, this plan is aimed at a political and diplomatic settlement, which should eliminate the "root causes of the crisis", and involves serious territorial concessions on the part of Kyiv.
Lavrov claims that it was NATO that caused the conflict, sowing the seeds of war ten years ago. According to the Russian diplomat, the West continues to stoke the fire, not wanting to find a peaceful solution.
"Russia is open to a political and diplomatic settlement, which should eliminate the root causes of the crisis. It should not be just a ceasefire, but a real end to the conflict," Lavrov emphasized.
According to the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the plan provides that Ukraine will have to make a number of concessions, including the territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, as well as Crimea. Ukraine is required to abandon its intentions to join NATO, to carry out "demilitarization and de-Nazification", as well as to cancel all sanctions against Russia.
Lavrov also said that Western countries must stop supplying Ukraine with weapons, and Kyiv must stop hostilities. In addition, he insisted on the return of Ukraine to neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear status, as well as on the protection of the Russian language and the rights of Russian-speaking citizens.
According to Lavrov's statements, the restoration of peace is currently not a priority for Ukraine. He noted that President Volodymyr Zelenskyi banned negotiations with Moscow, and the decision to resume them has not been canceled at the moment.
In addition, Lavrov expressed concern about possible long-range strikes by the West on Russian territory, calling this "game with fire" dangerous.
At the end of his speech, Lavrov noted that the world is experiencing a "multipolar moment". He emphasized the transition to a multipolar world order, which, in his opinion, is a natural consequence of changes in the world economy and geopolitics. According to the minister, the West is already beginning to realize the irreversibility of this process.
