On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticised Ukraine for retreating from all the progress made at previous peace talks in an indication of Moscow’s departure from diplomacy with Kyiv.
In an interview with Russian media outlets, Lavrov blamed Western countries, such as the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK), along with Poland and the Baltic states, for influencing Ukraine’s diplomatic withdrawal following the peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey last month. “They [Ukraine] reverted from the positions that we were ready to take as a foundation and told them about this,” Lavrov remarked.
Lavrov’s comments come after The Financial Times (FT) reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin has completely abandoned plans to reach a diplomatic consensus with Ukraine and is instead focussing Moscow’s efforts on gathering more territory. Citing three sources who have talked to the Russian leader in recent weeks, The Financial Times noted that there was some possibility of brokering a peace deal, last month.
Another day in Russia, via @bazabazon pic.twitter.com/W04fjvJUmD
— max seddon (@maxseddon) April 26, 2022
However, after the sinking of Russian navy’s flagship cruiser Moskva earlier this month, hopes for a peace deal reached a standstill. “Putin was against signing anything. [...] After the Moskva, he doesn’t look like a winner because it was humiliating,” said one source. “He needs to find a way to come out of this a winner,” added another source.
In this regard, Lavrov criticised the US and other Western states for supplying weapons to Ukraine, which he deemed was a de-facto advertisement of their support and a prolongation of the conflict. He also condemned them for sanctioning and “twisting [the] arms” of close associates of prominent Kremlin politicians.
In a separate interview, the foreign minister raised concerns over the conflict in Ukraine leading to a Third World War, noting that such a possibility was “real.” “The danger is serious, it is real, you can’t underestimate it,” claimed Lavrov.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has reacted to the threatening statement of his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov about the alleged "real danger of the outbreak of the Third World War" as well as a "serious threat of a nuclear war". https://t.co/XSKK21Q1gY
— Hromadske Int. (@Hromadske) April 26, 2022
Corroborating the claims made by FT, top Russian general Rustam Minnekaev stated last week that the Russian military seeks “to establish full control over the Donbas and southern Ukraine.” Minnekaev explained that this would create safe passage for Russian-speaking minorities in Transnistria, a Russia-backed separatist region in Moldova.
In response, Moldova’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador over the “unfounded” claims, which he said “contradict” Moscow’s official position on the issue.
In a related development, the Interior Ministry of Transnistria reported that its building was attacked, reportedly, by a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher.