Lavrov Outlines Conditions for Resuming Ukraine Negotiations

TASHKENT, Sept 16 — Sputnik. Russia is prepared for both bilateral negotiations and trilateral talks involving the United States.

This was announced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the International Youth Festival in Yekaterinburg. "We are ready for both bilateral and trilateral negotiations. We have never refused them," Lavrov said.

According to him, previous negotiation processes involving Russia were not halted at Moscow's initiative. The minister cited as examples the negotiations held in Belarus and Turkey, the Russia-Ukraine dialogue in Geneva, and the trilateral meeting with U.S. participation in Abu Dhabi.

Lavrov also noted that American representatives who recently visited Russia proposed returning to the format of trilateral negotiations involving the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine. According to the Russian Foreign Minister, for Moscow, resolving the situation in Ukraine means fulfilling the tasks defined at the outset of the special military operation and eliminating the factors that the Russian side considers the main causes of the crisis.

Lavrov called the current government in Kyiv an "openly Nazi regime." He emphasized that the use of the Russian language in Ukraine is restricted, Russian books are being removed from libraries and sent for recycling. "The only regime in the world that has banned an entire language," said the Russian minister regarding the Ukrainian leadership.

Lavrov noted that for Russia, eliminating security threats and safeguarding the rights of Russian people to their native language and Orthodox faith are "absolutely clear and understandable tasks" of the special military operation.

In his view, achieving the goals set by President Vladimir Putin requires not only resolving the crisis in Ukraine.