05:34Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Switzerland's Ukraine peace forum presents a 'road to nowhere' without Moscow’s involvement while speaking at a press conference after the CIS Foreign Ministers’ Council meeting in Minsk on Friday.
"Rather than engaging in direct dialogue, without any ultimatums, the West is imposing the 'Copenhagen process' and is preparing a conference in Switzerland, at which - it is stated directly - they want to formulate and 'finalise' the notorious 10 points of Zelensky's 'peace formula'. Then they want to disclose it to the Russian Federation. The fact that this is a road to nowhere, to put it mildly, is obvious to any normal political observer. So, President Putin has once again clearly and understandably stated our position during his conversation with Belarusian President Lukashenko. I have nothing to add. We see no desire either in Kiev or on the part of its 'masters' to conduct business in a fair manner," the minister claimed.
Lavrov also said that CIS Foreign Ministers’ Council meeting discussed the interference of external forces in the affairs of the association's states, including accusing the US and its satellites of 'seeking to undermine the agreements on stabilising the situation in the Caucasus, particularly in the South Caucasus'.
"They want to prevent the implementation of the agreements between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which had been reached with the assistance of Russia. They are actively trying to infiltrate Central Asia. They are creating various formats aimed against the Russian Federation. They publicly declare the need to ensure the real sovereignty of countries in the post-Soviet region and that they need to leave the shadow of the Russian Federation," Lavrov continued.
On Wednesday, the Swiss Federal Council said it would host a 'high-level conference on peace in Ukraine' in Nidwalden in June. It claimed that following negotiations with G7 member states, the EU and representatives of the Global South such as China, India, South Africa, Brazil, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, there was 'sufficient international support for a high-level conference to launch the peace process'.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called Switzerland’s Ukraine peace forum a ‘freak show’, noting that Moscow has been accused of ‘refusing to negotiate’ without being invited to the conference.
Moscow launched the military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
'Road to nowhere' - Lavrov on Switzerland's Ukraine peace forum without Russian involvement
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Switzerland's Ukraine peace forum presents a 'road to nowhere' without Moscow’s involvement while speaking at a press conference after the CIS Foreign Ministers’ Council meeting in Minsk on Friday.
"Rather than engaging in direct dialogue, without any ultimatums, the West is imposing the 'Copenhagen process' and is preparing a conference in Switzerland, at which - it is stated directly - they want to formulate and 'finalise' the notorious 10 points of Zelensky's 'peace formula'. Then they want to disclose it to the Russian Federation. The fact that this is a road to nowhere, to put it mildly, is obvious to any normal political observer. So, President Putin has once again clearly and understandably stated our position during his conversation with Belarusian President Lukashenko. I have nothing to add. We see no desire either in Kiev or on the part of its 'masters' to conduct business in a fair manner," the minister claimed.
Lavrov also said that CIS Foreign Ministers’ Council meeting discussed the interference of external forces in the affairs of the association's states, including accusing the US and its satellites of 'seeking to undermine the agreements on stabilising the situation in the Caucasus, particularly in the South Caucasus'.
"They want to prevent the implementation of the agreements between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which had been reached with the assistance of Russia. They are actively trying to infiltrate Central Asia. They are creating various formats aimed against the Russian Federation. They publicly declare the need to ensure the real sovereignty of countries in the post-Soviet region and that they need to leave the shadow of the Russian Federation," Lavrov continued.
On Wednesday, the Swiss Federal Council said it would host a 'high-level conference on peace in Ukraine' in Nidwalden in June. It claimed that following negotiations with G7 member states, the EU and representatives of the Global South such as China, India, South Africa, Brazil, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, there was 'sufficient international support for a high-level conference to launch the peace process'.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called Switzerland’s Ukraine peace forum a ‘freak show’, noting that Moscow has been accused of ‘refusing to negotiate’ without being invited to the conference.
Moscow launched the military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Switzerland's Ukraine peace forum presents a 'road to nowhere' without Moscow’s involvement while speaking at a press conference after the CIS Foreign Ministers’ Council meeting in Minsk on Friday.
"Rather than engaging in direct dialogue, without any ultimatums, the West is imposing the 'Copenhagen process' and is preparing a conference in Switzerland, at which - it is stated directly - they want to formulate and 'finalise' the notorious 10 points of Zelensky's 'peace formula'. Then they want to disclose it to the Russian Federation. The fact that this is a road to nowhere, to put it mildly, is obvious to any normal political observer. So, President Putin has once again clearly and understandably stated our position during his conversation with Belarusian President Lukashenko. I have nothing to add. We see no desire either in Kiev or on the part of its 'masters' to conduct business in a fair manner," the minister claimed.
Lavrov also said that CIS Foreign Ministers’ Council meeting discussed the interference of external forces in the affairs of the association's states, including accusing the US and its satellites of 'seeking to undermine the agreements on stabilising the situation in the Caucasus, particularly in the South Caucasus'.
"They want to prevent the implementation of the agreements between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which had been reached with the assistance of Russia. They are actively trying to infiltrate Central Asia. They are creating various formats aimed against the Russian Federation. They publicly declare the need to ensure the real sovereignty of countries in the post-Soviet region and that they need to leave the shadow of the Russian Federation," Lavrov continued.
On Wednesday, the Swiss Federal Council said it would host a 'high-level conference on peace in Ukraine' in Nidwalden in June. It claimed that following negotiations with G7 member states, the EU and representatives of the Global South such as China, India, South Africa, Brazil, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, there was 'sufficient international support for a high-level conference to launch the peace process'.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called Switzerland’s Ukraine peace forum a ‘freak show’, noting that Moscow has been accused of ‘refusing to negotiate’ without being invited to the conference.
Moscow launched the military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.