Lavrov: Zelensky became the West’s toy against Russia.
Russia’s foreign minister said the West played with Zelensky against Russia and did everything in its power to strengthen his willingness to ignore the Minsk agreements.
In an exclusive interview with India Today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinsky had been used by the West against Russia to ignore the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
“I think the West played with Zelensky against Russia,” he said. And [the West] did everything to strengthen him in his desire to ignore the Minsk agreements. If he [Zelinsky] had cooperated in the implementation of the Minsk agreements, the crisis would have ended long ago.
Lavrov also stressed in another part of the interview that the Ukrainian people must decide their own destiny and that Moscow has no plans to put pressure on regime change in Kiev.
According to him, Moscow had no choice but to launch an operation, as Ukrainian forces intensified their attacks on Donbas, causing a massive evacuation of civilians from the region and forcing the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics to seek Moscow’s help.
Russia launched a special operation in February to end the eight-year war in Donbas launched by Kiev. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the goals of the Russian operation de-Naziization and demilitarization of Ukraine.
According to the Tass news agency, the Minsk agreements are the cornerstone of the Donbass peace process. The agreement includes measures to declare a ceasefire, a ceasefire, an amnesty, restore economic ties and constitutional reform in Ukraine through talks with the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, aimed at decentralizing power and creating special conditions for certain Donetsk regions. And has been in Luhansk.
