Lavrov: The Europeans are urging Ukraine to negotiate with us, and Washington and London are preventing it

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed that the European parties concerned with the crisis in Ukraine are urging Kyiv to negotiate with Russia, but the United States and Britain are preventing it from doing so.

Lavrov said, in an interview with Belarusian national radio and television, that "when they give up and present to us a proposal to resume the diplomatic process, which I think the Europeans are urging Ukraine to do, even if the United States and Britain do not allow it, then we will start negotiating based on the situation on the ground."

He explained that "there are liberated areas where most of the residents do not even want to think about returning to the control of the neo-Nazi authorities."

Lavrov warned that the actions of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres regarding the Russian and Ukrainian grain export crisis would prolong the crisis, due to his insistence on solving the Ukrainian grain export problems first.

Lavrov said, "Guterres wants to agree first on Ukrainian and then Russian grain. No one is in a hurry when it comes to us. This situation creates problems for many developing countries."

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