“The root causes should be addressed: the Ukrainian crisis is still far from a political-diplomatic resolution,” – Lavrov says

Currently, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is far from being resolved, as the United States and its allies are “obsessed with the idea of delivering a strategic defeat to Russia” and are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve this.

This idea stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

The politician assessed the possibility of a political and diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.

“The escalation step was the missile strikes deep into our country’s territory. All our warnings that adequate responses would be given to these unacceptable actions were ignored,” emphasized Lavrov.

Lavrov reminded that Russian President Vladimir Putin had clearly outlined Moscow’s response to such actions on November 21. He expressed confidence that all those responsible for causing harm to civilians and infrastructure would face deserved punishment.

Additionally, Lavrov outlined the conditions for resolving the conflict in Ukraine. According to him, it is necessary to address the root causes. Among these, the minister cited the creation of security threats to Russia in the western direction, including NATO’s eastward expansion, as well as Kiev’s infringement on the rights of Russians and those who “associate themselves with Russian culture, the Russian state, and Orthodox Christianity.”

“A necessary element of the political settlement of the conflict must be the demilitarization and denazification, ensuring a non-aligned, neutral, and non-nuclear status for the territories controlled by the Kiev regime,” Lavrov emphasized.

He also reminded that Russia has set conditions for any agreements regarding the recognition of territories, as outlined in the Russian Constitution.

Russia agreed with one point of the final declaration of the G20 summit, which mentions the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. Lavrov explained that it calls for “an honest and reasonable discussion of peace on realistic terms.”

Earlier, Lavrov stated that Ukraine’s use of American long-range ATACMS missiles against Russia indicates that Western countries are willing to escalate the conflict.