Lavrov complained after the meeting that Kyiv had refused the meeting. “If anyone refuses, it is Ukraine. And the longer he refuses, the more difficult the negotiations will be in the end,” said the Russian minister, who was sent by Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to Indonesia for the G20 meeting.

Lavrov’s words were immediately echoed by Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the president of Ukraine, who recalled: “It was the Russian Federation that invaded Ukraine. It was the Russian Federation that launched missiles at our cities and committed genocide by destroying energy infrastructure. But Ukraine is said to be holding off on conflict: This war continues precisely because of Lavrov’s public manipulation and unwillingness to stop killing.

But Lavrov was right about one thing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi absolutely does not want negotiations with the current Russian leadership, ever since the massacre in Bucha. Previously, on the other hand, he asked Putin to negotiate, which the Russian leader refused to do.

Even during the spring negotiations, it appeared that Ukraine was willing to compromise. Since the occupier’s atrocities were uncovered, Kyiv has long stated that it is willing to negotiate a ceasefire with Moscow only on condition that Russian troops actually withdraw from Ukraine.

Lavrov was annoyed that the West was not trying to moderate Kiev’s demands. He said there have been occasional reports that “the US government is asking Zelensky to be more accommodating.” But not to meet Russia’s demands, the Russian foreign minister complained.

“Then it will soon be clarified that it is not to behave absolutely constructively, but to allay the objections of a part of the Western world that is starting to doubt the need to supply more weapons (to Ukraine),” he said. head of Russian diplomacy.

At the same time, he has doubts about the alleged dual European policy, when some leaders “talked about the need for a peaceful settlement”, but at the same time the EU started training Ukrainian soldiers.

“This is a split of political minds or, as President Putin says, an unconventional form of international relations. But we are used to it,” Lavrov added, according to the TASS news agency.

According to him, Russia wants to see that “the West has a serious interest in disciplining Zelenskyi and making it clear to him that this cannot continue because it is not in the interest of the Ukrainian people or itself.”

In his opinion, this did not happen, and the screening of Zelensky’s performance should prove this. “I only made one conclusion from his speech – he has not listened to the advice of the West,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address at the G20 summit on Tuesday that the time has come to end the war in Ukraine, which must be done under the plan he proposed. In his opinion, wars must end “fairly” and based on the UN Charter and international law. At the same time, Zelenskyy repeated that Russia cannot be trusted.