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Peace talks will hinge on proposal considerate of Moscow's interests

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
7 Dec 2022 16:46
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Kiev's lack of consideration of Moscow's legitimate interests and the ultimatums Ukraine imposes on the conditions for peace talks have caused the negotiations to reach a standstill.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that Russia is ready for peace talks with Ukraine if a concrete proposal that is considerate of Moscow's interests is presented.

"If there is now a serious proposal on how to stop this conflict while meeting our absolutely legitimate demands, of course we will be ready to talk," Lavrov said at the 8th Primakov Readings forum in Moscow.

Efforts to push for negotiations between the two warring parties have been ongoing since the start of the conflict.

But Kiev's lack of consideration of Moscow's legitimate interests and the ultimatums Ukraine imposes on the conditions for peace talks have caused the negotiations to reach a standstill.

In late September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was open to talks with Kiev and called on Ukraine to stop the hostilities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in turn, stated that Kiev was ready for dialogue with Moscow, but only if another president came to power in Russia - a demand which he later dropped.

In a video message to the G20 summit on November 15, Zelensky stated that Kiev does not want to sign a peace agreement that is detrimental to Ukraine's interests and that Moscow will "violate immediately after the conclusion."

Commenting on Zelensky's statement, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said this "absolutely confirms" Kiev's refusal to negotiate.

On November 24, addressing Ukraine's stance from the talks, the Russian Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said, "So far, what we hear from Mr. Zelensky and his allies cannot be interpreted as readiness for peace but is rather a language of reckless threats and ultimatums. Kiev’s Western sponsors only encourage such an irresponsible course, since they are interested in a war on the Ukrainian territory until the last Ukrainian as it makes it possible for their defense sector to derive colossal profit and test NATO weapons."

UN tribunal against Russia 'legally null and void'

In another context, Lavrov accused Western countries of blindly using developing nations, encouraging them to support the seizure of Russian assets and the creation of a tribunal against Russia within the UNGA.

"According to the UN Charter, only the Security Council can make such decisions," he noted. "This is why, when the West promoted a resolution on reparations about a month ago, they provided very interesting arguments to developing countries. The developing nations to whom they appealed said that you know, it’s not legitimate because the General Assembly, who only passes recommendatory resolutions, cannot declare that it will seize the state assets of a sovereign UN member. The response was the following: no, no, no, <...> it’s only about the moral and ethical evaluation of Russia’s actions," Lavrov added.

The Russian diplomat further stressed that "they are trying to persuade those who doubt that it will just be a political statement and they will do all the work to create a mechanism to seize Russia’s assets and ensure reparation payments outside the United Nations. That said, you can see that the UN is being used blindly. They are now trying to do the same in terms of the idea to create an international tribunal," the Russian top diplomat emphasized.

Lavrov stressed that any decision of that kind was "legally null and void" and it would impose obligations neither on Russia nor on any other country.

"It just discredits the UN General Assembly," Lavrov stated.

On December 2, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed outrage at the announcement of the French Foreign Ministry of the creation of a "special tribunal" for "crimes by Russia."

The Foreign Ministry's reaction came in response to an announcement of a partnership between Paris and European and Ukrainian partners to establish a special tribunal to investigate Russia's actions in Ukraine.

"We are outraged by the statement of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs regarding the plans to create some kind of a 'special tribunal for the crimes of Russian aggression.' In addition to trying to involve the International Criminal Court, Western countries decided to promote the idea of creating another overtly politicized 'judicial' instance, which, in fact, has nothing to do with justice," the Russian Ministry said in a statement.