Lavrov rejects immediate ceasefire ahead of talks on security guarantees
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Lavrov rejects European calls for an immediate ceasefire (Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)
Russia’s refusal to accept an immediate
ceasefire ahead of negotiations on a new European security framework
reflects Moscow’s demand for clear security guarantees and its claim that a
truce would allow Ukrainian forces to rebuild their military capabilities,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Nov. 10.
Lavrov said Moscow would not agree to an immediate ceasefire
to allow negotiations and discussions of a new “security architecture.” He
claimed Europe was “trying to give Ukraine’s Defense Forces a respite” to
rebuild their military capabilities, adding that “Moscow will not go along with
that.”
“Russia will not agree to enter into ‘yet another truce’
without understanding what comes next. The idea of first establishing clear
security guarantees is absolutely reasonable,” Lavrov said, as quoted by the
Russian propaganda news agency TASS.
The Russian foreign minister said everything coming from
Brussels and other EU capitals amounted to “a demand for an immediate
ceasefire.”
“European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said
there would be no discussions of the parameters of the security architecture
until there is a lasting ceasefire,” Lavrov said.
He added that “Moscow will not go along with that.”
As Ukrainska Pravda reported, the parties discussed security
guarantees, Moscow’s demands and postwar arrangements during talks in Abu Dhabi
on Nov. 10. The discussions focused primarily on security guarantees for
Ukraine and Europe as a whole. The parties also separately discussed Russia’s
demands for security guarantees of its own.
A source said another major topic was the postwar future,
including Ukraine’s reconstruction and the creation of a new European security
architecture amid a crisis of trust.
“The Ukrainian side’s key position is that the war must end
first. Only after that can the process of building a new security architecture
in Europe begin — one that must ensure long-term stability and prevent renewed
aggression,” the source said.
Abu Dhabi talks
The first day of trilateral talks aimed at ending the war in
Ukraine took place in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10. Ahead of the meeting with Russia,
Ukraine held talks with representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Germany,
Italy, NATO and the European Commission. U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and
Jared Kushner also participated.
The Ukrainian delegation is led by Foreign Intelligence
Service chief Rustem Umerov and includes Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff
Kyrylo Budanov, David Arakhamia, head of the Servant of the People faction in
Ukraine’s parliament, First Deputy Presidential Chief of Staff Serhii Kyslytsia
and Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of the Defense Ministry’s HUR military
intelligence agency.
Umerov stressed that Ukraine’s
key priorities are ending hostilities, securing credible postwar security
guarantees, Ukraine’s economic recovery and development, and humanitarian
measures.
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