Lavrov Blasts Ceasefire Calls in Ukraine as Ploy to Buy Zelensky Time
16:44 GMT 26.10.2025 (Updated: 07:44 GMT 27.10.2025)
© Sputnik / Alexey Maishev
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Calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine are just an attempt to buy Volodymyr Zelensky some time once again, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
“When we hear these calls for a ceasefire now, we understand that what they really want is simply to gain time again. And this logic — deeply rooted in Zelensky’s mind and consciousness — is absolutely clear to any objective observer,” the top diplomat said.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia has consistently articulated its position on territorial issues during discussions about the Ukrainian peace process, particularly in President Vladimir Putin's meetings with other world leaders.
The diplomacy chief was asked by Ultrahang, a Hungarian YouTube channel, about whether Russia's conditions for negotiations on Ukraine included flexibility on territorial matters, specifically when it came to parts of Donbas, Kherson and Zaporozhye that remain under Ukrainian armed control.
"Well, this is all reflected in many discussions. President Putin addressed this issue regularly when he was asked by journalists, or when he meets with [US] President [Donald] Trump, or with [Hungarian] Prime Minister [Viktor] Orban, Prime Minister [Robert] Fico, all those who are interested in talking to Russia, better understanding Russia's position, they always have a chance and opportunity to come and discuss whatever is of interest for them," Lavrov said.
The top Russian diplomat reiterated that the territories in question are historically Russian lands.
"The 'new' territories which you mentioned, they are not actually 'new' territories. They are historic Russian territories. Yes, after the Soviet Union disappeared, this was left inside the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic," Lavrov said.
Russia does not want to interfere in internal US discussions on Ukraine, as the United States is already under "huge, unbelievable pressure" from Volodymyr Zelensky and the European Union, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"From the diplomatic point of view, we don't want to interfere in their internal considerations. We don't want to create some discomfort for the United States, which is under huge, unbelievable pressure from the European 'hawks,' from Zelensky, and others who don't want to have any American-Russian cooperation on anything," Lavrov said in an interview with the Hungarian YouTube channel Ultrahang.
The initiative for a new summit meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump is still there, Sergei Lavrov said.
After Putin and Trump agreed to meet in Budapest, Lavrov had a call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"As I said, I heard that the State Department issued a communique saying that it was a good and productive phone conversation between Rubio and Lavrov. And it was so good that for the time being, we don't need any meetings," Lavrov said in an interview with the Ultrahang YouTube channel.
Therefore, the initiative for a meeting is still on the table, the Russian foreign minister added.
"The initiative is there, and we are polite people. And when we are invited, we say, yes, let's agree how and where and when. And when this invitation is canceled, as President Trump said yesterday in the White House. Later they said that 'cancel' means 'postpone.' It's up to those who initiated the process," Lavrov said.
Lavrov said on Sunday that the topic of new negotiations and meetings had not been raised with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio since they last spoke on the phone on October 20.
The Russian diplomacy chief said in an interview with the Ultrahang YouTube channel that he did not want to press the United States on new contacts.
"After we talked with Marco Rubio regarding following up on the results of Alaska, he did not mention any new meetings or conversations. And I did not raise the issue, because the entire initiative was coming from the United States. And we would be ready to move as the Americans feel comfortable for themselves," Lavrov said.
Addressing Root Causes of Ukraine Conflict Key to Understanding It
"Root causes, that is what must be the key to understanding how to help end this situation efficiently, thinking not about grabbing back territories, not about saving political losers who are ruling in Kiev, but thinking about the people who should be the utmost concern of those who say that they are champions of democracy," Lavrov said.
Russia has been unfairly accused of violating multiple treaties, for example, the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, Lavrov said.
"First, we recognized Ukraine on the basis of its own Declaration of Independence and its Constitution. In 1990, the Declaration of Independence was adopted, which says [that Ukraine is a] non-nuclear, neutral, non-bloc country with the rights of all national minorities, and so on and so forth," Lavrov said.
Russia has recognized a different Ukraine of the past, not the one now led by an "openly Nazi regime," he said, adding that when Ukraine tries to get into NATO under the pretense that it has "the right to choose alliances," this goes against Russia's reading of the situation.
"When we recognize somebody, it is on the basis of what this country is, according to its own proclamation," the foreign minister said.
Lavrov argued that it is unfair to ask when Russia will "end the war", stating that the international community should first pose this question to the Ukrainian government.
"People only ask, when are you going to end the war? When are you going to have a ceasefire? It's not honest, if you wish. An honest discussion would be to tell Ukrainians, before anything else, to restore language rights, restore all national minority rights, because your constitution says so," the foreign minister stressed.
Ukraine has passed multiple laws that not only violate its constitution but also endanger minorities, a category he specified includes ethnic Russians and the Hungarian national minority in western Ukraine, the minister noted.
Focusing solely on Russia to relinquish the territories it controls is an inappropriate approach, said Lavrov.
"Actually, we now have taken some other territories which do not belong to the regions reflected now in our Constitution. The reason is very simple. We need a buffer zone. Because Ukrainians continue shelling, bombing, and unleashing drones on Russian territory, including the territories which never were challenged by anybody," he said.
21 October 2025, 08:52 GMT
