Russia says West uses 'rumors' to test its readiness on Ukraine peace talks

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday said the West "tests Moscow's readiness to agree on its conditions" when it "starts rumors" about peace talks with Ukraine.

But Russia sees the West's true plan, which is a months-long pause to refill Ukraine's warehouses with weapons, Lavrov told Russian state news agency TASS.

He said the West insists on considering Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnkyy's "peace formula" as the only basis for the negotiations with the apparent goal of never letting them happen.

"That's out of the question, it's a pure ultimatum. No person in sane mind can promote such an ultimatum as an uncontested basis for negotiations, unless they seek to disrupt and prevent these negotiations," he stressed.

Lavrov said Russia has long been ready for peace talks but on the condition of taking into account its interests, including in the security domain, and "the new situation on the ground," "the interests of preventing the creation of a hostile Nazi regime on the borders of Russia, which openly declared the goal of exterminating all Russians on the lands of Crimea and Novorossiya (Donbas)."

- Lavrov warns Armenia against siding with US

Commenting on the recent criticism of Armenian officials, who accused Russia of not interfering in Azerbaijan's recent "anti-terrorist measures" in the Karabakh region, Lavrov said: "There are many people there who want to lose Russia and find new friends."

Lavrov said Armenian politicians speak about such "hopes" directly, and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recently spoke about the need "to compensate for the failed alliances that Armenia counted on and expand the circle of partners who will ensure this security."

"If they rely on the US, as directly follows from the statements of many representatives of the Armenian leadership, then it would probably be good for them to see the recent history of how the US treated those whom they sought to take under their wing, promoting their geopolitical interests in areas of the world far from the American shores. The fate of all these people is very, very unenviable," he said.