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Lavrov: Putin’s Ukraine Negotiation Proposals Shouldn’t Be Seen Demand for Surrender

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - It is incorrect to compare Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposals for the transition to negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict with the demand to capitulate, given the background of the events, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.
Sputnik
Top diplomat reminded that Russia supported the document that preserved the territorial integrity of Ukraine within the 1991 borders.
"The question is not very correct, because the president ... specifically drew your attention before he finished his speech that he once again wants to reproduce the whole picture, when we supported the document that preserved the territorial integrity of Ukraine within the 1991 borders," Lavrov told reporters when asked if it seemed to him that proposals to start negotiations were more like an ultimatum of surrender.
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Russia is not asking the West to trust it and Putin’s proposals for Ukraine, but the West must understand the real situation on the ground, the minister said.
"I think that these proposals are already read by everyone and everyone knows," Lavrov said.
Moscow will use Russian President Vladimir Putin's new initiative on Ukraine in cooperation with China and other world majority countries, which also previously offered their options to resolve the Ukrainian conflict, Lavrov added.

'Your new initiative will certainly be used in a variety of situations, including in our work within the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, with China, the countries of Latin America, Africa, which have also put forward their initiatives, but which have so far been completely ignored by those who run Ukraine," Lavrov said following Putin's meeting with the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

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