Lavrov rejects EU ceasefire calls as bid to rearm Kyiv

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday, Nov. 3, that European calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine are not meant to bring peace. In his view, they are meant to give Kyiv time to rebuild its military strength. He spoke at the 4th Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security in the Belarusian capital, according to Anadolu Agency. His remarks show again that Moscow rejects a temporary truce. Russia is instead pressing for a broader settlement on its own terms.f.aa.com.tr

Rejecting partial truces

"All this wailing is aimed solely at giving Kyiv a breather to restore its combat potential," Lavrov said. He singled out the United Kingdom and France for their ceasefire calls and accused the European Union of becoming an "aggressive, militaristic" bloc with "anti-Russian and anti-Belarusian leanings," Anadolu reported. Türkiye Today reported that he said the goal was to help Kyiv recover "with the help of the regime's external sponsors."turkiyetoday.com+1

Russia's state news agency TASS reported that Lavrov dismissed calls for an immediate ceasefire as well as separate energy, food, air and naval truces. He said Moscow wants the "underlying causes" of the crisis addressed instead, according to TASS. In Moscow's framing, those causes are strategic threats from the West, the rights of Russian-speaking Ukrainians, and the elimination of "the ideas and practices of Nazism."tass.com

Wider jabs at the West

Lavrov said Russia had "never closed the door" to Western Europe in building a Eurasian security framework. He added that Moscow would engage with countries that "abandon hostile intentions," Anadolu reported. He called the state of the OSCE "deplorable" and accused Japan of "accelerated militarization." He also said Russia does not want a war with Europe but warned that any such war "will be different and very short," APA reported.en.apa.az+1

Lavrov arrived in Minsk late on Monday, Nov. 2, after attending a G20 ministerial meeting in Atlanta on Oct. 30–31. On the sidelines of the conference, he met Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov and OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu, according to Anadolu.f.aa.com.tr

Kyiv's ceasefire offers

Kyiv has repeatedly offered to pause the fighting. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told the UN Security Council on Sept. 23 that Ukraine was ready for a full and unconditional ceasefire. On Oct. 11, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would stop striking Russian energy facilities if Russia did the same, Ukrainian outlet UkrMedia reported. The same report said Russia launched another large missile and drone attack overnight into Nov. 3 that disrupted electricity and heating in several regions.ukrmedia.news

Lavrov's position offers little room for a compromise. Moscow insists that ending the war requires "not a temporary ceasefire, as has been repeatedly declared, but meaningfully addressing the underlying causes of the crisis," he said.tass.com