Lavrov Says Russia Hopes France, Germany Will Pressure Zelensky To Make Good On Promises

Our approaches are absolutely substantiated. They are clear and open," he said after talks with German Foreign Minister Analena Baerbock. "We are hoping that, repeated multiple times, these approaches have been heard in Berlin and Paris, because there’s no hope they heard them in Kiev."

"There’s only hope that Berlin and Paris will lean on Mr. Zelensky to make good on what he promised multiple times."

Lavrov stressed Russia would be ready to help to create conditions for implementing the Minsk accords.

He also said Ukraine did nothing to carry out the decisions of the Normandy Format talks among Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France that took place in in Paris in 2019.

"The Normandy Four had a summit in Paris in 2019, we have recalled that today, where difficult talks ended with the formulation and approval by all the participants of the summit of specific steps that the government in Kiev, first of all, has to make," Lavrov said. "Nothing has been done along those lines so far."

Therefore, Russia needs to understand before any further talks what the sides would bring to the table if the talks were to resume in some format, he said. Foreign policy advisors in the Normandy Format countries are now making efforts to that effect, he said.

Zelensky’s office said last week that Kiev was ready for decisions that would be regarded as necessary at the next Normandy Format talks. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in comments about that statement that implementing the existing decisions should be a priority.

Previous Trump's administration previously appointed a special representative for Ukrainian settlement, Lavrov said. The representative worked independently of the Normandy Format and the Contact Group, the minister said.

"He had peculiar views on who has to do what, and these views, honestly, contradicted the content of the Minsk package of measures," Lavrov said. "We have reasons to believe that the current administration views the situation around the Ukrainian settlement in a more realistic way."

"In particular, it acknowledges that the problem of the special status of Donbass needs to be resolved first," the minister said.

As soon as there’s clarity about the powers that should be granted to the governments in Donetsk and Lugansk in accordance with the Minsk accords, Lavrov said, it will be easier to make progress with the other issues. He said Kiev is trying to sidestep the political aspects of the Minsk agreements and focus instead on issues of secondary importance.

Lavrov said Russia will welcome US efforts to help the settlement in Ukraine, as the US has enormous influence over the government in Kiev.