Lavrov Asserts Peace Talks Must Be About the Principles of a New World Order

April 8, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a trip to Turkiye on April 7 that peace negotiations on Ukraine are possible only if they aim at establishing a “new world order” without American domination. In his opening remarks at a joint press conference with host Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Lavrov said:

“President Putin and representatives of the Russian Federation have made it clear more than once that we are not refusing to talk, but talks can only be based on taking into account Russia’s legitimate interests and concerns, which we outlined earlier. For many years, we have made them known in a dialogue with our Western colleagues (including our relations with the North Atlantic alliance) and they were disdainfully and contemptuously ignored, while we were told that what NATO is doing with Ukraine is none of our business.

“When some international experts, representatives of certain countries try to put forward initiatives aimed at bringing Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, it represents a symptom of the situation that has formed as a result of the U.S. policy towards establishing absolute hegemony in international relations.

“It should be about the principles that the new world order will be based on, the order which we all need instead of the unipolar world order overseen by one hegemon, as President Putin put it. Alongside the overwhelming majority of other states, Russia stands for the new world order that is based on UN Charter principles that are directly violated by the collective West.”

His complete remarks were posted to the Foreign Ministry website.

Hindustan Times on April 7 wrote of Lavrov’s Ankara remarks: “The statement comes at a time when top voices in the West are pushing for talks. French President Emmanuel Macron and [EU Commission President] Ursula von der Leyen even met Putin’s ally and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing to discuss the peace process.”