Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Ukraine cannot have weapons that pose a material threat to Russia.
“There can be no weapons in Ukraine that pose a threat to Russia. We are ready to coordinate those types of weapons that do not pose a threat to us,” Lavrov said.
The neutral status of Ukraine is now being seriously discussed at the talks, along with the requirements of Russia on security guarantees, Lavrov said.
“[Ukraine’s] neutral status is now being seriously discussed in conjunction with security guarantees, of course,” Lavrov said.
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are difficult, but there is some hope for a compromise, the top Russian diplomat added.
At the same time, he stressed that this detail should be resolved even independently of the possible membership of Kiev in NATO, since even without this, Western countries can now supply strike weapons to Ukraine.
Earlier, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia will immediately stop its military operation if Ukrainian authorities amend the constitution to abandon their ambition to enter “any bloc,” and recognize the Crimean referendum and independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR).
On 24 February, Russia began a military operation in Ukraine responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that “demilitarization and de-nazification” are among the key goals of the special operation. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it has no plans to occupy Ukraine, insisting the armed forces only target the country’s military infrastructure.
The United States and its allies, including Japan, responded by imposing comprehensive sanctions against Russia, while many foreign companies decided to leave the country’s market.
Source: Agencies
