Western countries are making every effort to prevent Moscow and Kyiv from reaching a diplomatic settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.

This opinion was expressed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an interview with the Chinese Xinhua news agency.

“Publicly expressing support for the Kyiv regime, NATO countries are doing everything to prevent the completion of the operation by reaching political agreements.

Various weapons are sent to Ukraine through Poland and other NATO countries in an endless stream.

All this is being done under the pretext of "fighting the invasion", but in fact the US and the EU intend to fight Russia "to the last Ukrainian," the Foreign Minister said.

According to Lavrov, all this demonstrates the hypocrisy and double standards of the Western establishment, which is indifferent to the fate of Ukraine as an independent subject of international relations.

If the US and the EU were really interested in resolving the crisis, they would not supply weapons and ammunition to Kyiv, but would focus on humanitarian issues, he believes.

From the minister's point of view, it will be possible to reach agreements with Ukraine when Kyiv begins to be guided by the interests of the Ukrainian people, and not "advisers from afar."

However, so far these negotiations are not going well, the head of Russian diplomacy stated.

  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

  • AP

  • © Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service

As Lavrov previously noted in an interview with Al Arabiya TV channel, the reason for the stalling of the Russian-Ukrainian dialogue was the inconsistency of the position of the Kyiv authorities, “their desire to play games every time, as well as the instructions they receive from Washington, London and other capitals, not to speed up the negotiation process ".

It is noteworthy that on Friday, April 29, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced the high risks of stopping any peace talks with Russia.

Weakening strategy

Sergei Lavrov also expressed confidence that the West is interested in maintaining the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, since under this pretext it is possible to pursue a course towards weakening the Russian Federation.

“In the USA, Great Britain, Canada, the EU countries, they do not hide the goal of“ strangling ”our economy, undermining its competitiveness, blocking the further progressive development of the country,” the minister noted.

At the same time, Western politicians are not embarrassed that restrictions directed against Moscow harm ordinary citizens of their own countries, and also negatively affect the global economy, while the Russian Federation is gradually adapting to these restrictions, he stated.

“In order to satisfy its own geopolitical ambitions, the West is ready to jeopardize the energy and food security of entire regions of the world.

How else to explain the unrestrained flywheel of anti-Russian sanctions, which was launched by the Westerners with the start of the operation and which they do not think of stopping?

Lavrov said.

In his opinion, Washington and its satellites are now too keen on the idea of ​​imposing an American-centric model of the world order.

“It has gotten to the point that the Western minority is trying to replace the monocentric architecture and international law that was formed as a result of World War II with their own “rule-based order,” the minister said.

However, the so-called collective West will not be able to interfere with the natural course of history and continue to solve its problems at the expense of others, since the world today is multipolar, the diplomat believes.

“The sooner the West comes to terms with the new geopolitical realities, the better it will be for itself and for the entire international community,” Lavrov added.

civil position

Meanwhile, citizens of a number of Western countries that are pursuing an anti-Russian policy and intend to continue supporting Ukraine with weapons oppose such a course, since it carries risks for themselves.

For example, in Germany, an appeal by German cultural and art figures to Chancellor Olaf Scholz with a call not to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine is rapidly gaining signatures.

Its text was originally published on the EMMA magazine website, and then on the Change.org portal on April 29.

“We welcome the fact that you have so far considered the risks so carefully: the risk of the war spreading inside Ukraine, the risk of it spreading to the whole of Europe, moreover, the risk of a third world war.

Therefore, we hope that you will not supply, either directly or indirectly, any further heavy weapons to Ukraine.

We urge you, on the contrary, to do everything possible to ensure an early ceasefire and a compromise that both sides can accept, ”the appeal says.

According to the signatories, an increase in arms supplies could lead to catastrophic consequences.

The petition received more than 70 thousand votes in less than a day, and at the time of publication of the material it was signed by about 100 thousand people.

  • Ukrainian soldier

  • AP

  • © Andrew Marienko

It is worth noting that the German Chancellor, unlike the German Cabinet, takes a moderate position regarding the supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine.

“In this situation, a cool head and well-considered decisions are needed, because our country is responsible for peace and security throughout Europe.

I am doing everything to prevent an escalation leading to a third world war.

That's why I don't look at the polls or let the high-pitched screams confuse me.

The consequences of a mistake would be dramatic,” he said on April 22 in an interview with Der Spiegel.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria, the leader of the ruling coalition of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, Kornelia Ninova, also recently spoke out against the supply of weapons to Kyiv.

At the briefing, she noted that if the government still decides to export weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, her party will leave the political association.

Last week, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev also pointed out the risk to the country from possible supplies.

In his opinion, this could lead to the direct involvement of the country in the conflict.

The negative impact of the Ukrainian crisis on the standard of living was noted in the UK.

More than half of Britons will have trouble paying their utility bills in the coming months, according to a poll commissioned by the Daily Mirror from 21 to 23 April by the Deltapoll public opinion polling center.

At the same time, more than five million citizens of the United Kingdom are forced to choose between paying for heating and buying food.

In general, according to the international sociological agency Ipsos, the majority of Westerners believe that their states should not provide military support to Ukraine.

According to a survey conducted online by Ipsos from March 25 to April 3 among residents of 27 countries (19,000 people under the age of 75 took part in the survey), 64% of respondents believe that their governments should not supply weapons to Ukraine, and 67% - that they should not allocate funds for the military needs of Kyiv.

Ukrainian "swamp"

Experts interviewed by RT believe that the Western establishment is so blinded by anti-Russian hysteria and the desire to inflict as much damage as possible on Moscow that it actually does not pay any attention to the opinion of its own citizens.

“The task of the United States and its allies is not to let Russia out of the Ukrainian “swamp” by creating a second Afghanistan there.

The purpose of this is for Moscow to spend a lot of its financial and military-political resources and for this to lead to negative consequences for itself.

After all, the West is also interested in destabilizing the internal situation in the Russian Federation, ”explained Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

According to him, Ukraine is needed by the collective West solely as an instrument of pressure on Russia, as an outpost and a sphere of influence near the borders of the Russian Federation.

“In this regard, Kyiv’s hopes are being fueled there that one day Ukraine will become part of the West and live well, so that the Ukrainian authorities continue to pursue a confrontational course against Russia, being held hostage to such fantasies,” the analyst noted.

A similar opinion is shared by political scientist Alexander Asafov.

He stressed that the West supports the militaristic moods of Ukraine by supplying weapons, forming a threat and irritant for Russia out of it.

“This is necessary to keep Russia in geopolitical competition, so that it wastes its resources and cannot, for example, develop normal cross-border trade.

In this configuration, the West is not interested in Ukraine per se, they need a tool to continue creating new threats to Russia.

In this model, neither Washington nor Brussels is interested in any peace talks.

They need a long-term conflict,” Asafov said.

  • US and EU flags

  • AP

  • © Olivier Matthys

The interlocutor of RT believes that Western countries are ready to sacrifice the welfare of not only their own citizens, but the whole world, putting it at risk for the sake of their goals.

“The same European politicians continue to act against the interests of their society, which is hit by anti-Russian sanctions with no less force.

Indeed, in the EU, prices for energy, heat, and food are now rapidly growing.

However, the European establishment cannot go against the Russophobic course imposed by the United States, since otherwise restrictions may already be introduced against it,” Asafov explained.

However, support for the pro-American course and complicity of the United States in maintaining their position as world hegemon has no prospects, since today the world is multipolar, the political scientist added.

“All attempts by the United States to maintain a dominant role are crumbling, as it is impossible to keep up on all fronts.

For them, now the main opponents are Russia and China, but they will not withstand the confrontation with these two countries at the same time.

The world is waiting for new alliances and the establishment of new ties, as the old architecture of relations is falling into decay due to the destructive actions of the United States against Russia,” Asafov summed up.