Moscow set conditions for the end of the war: "Fulfill them for your own good"

Moscow set conditions for the end of the war: "Fulfill them for your own good"

"Moscow's conditions for solving the problems in Ukraine are well known to Kyiv, and Ukraine will either fulfill them for its own good, or the Russian army will decide on it", Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the TASS agency.

"Our proposals for the demilitarization and denazification of the territories under the control of the regime, the elimination of threats to Russia's security coming from there, including our new territories, are well known to the enemy. The meaning is simple. Follow them for your own good, the Russian army will decide on that issue", Lavrov said on Monday evening, as reported by the state news agency.

Official Moscow calls its invasion of Ukraine a "special military operation" to "demilitarize" and "denazify" its neighbor. Kyiv and its Western allies call it an imperial-style aggression aimed at seizing the country, Reuters reminds.

"The ball is in the regime's court"

In September, after holding a referendum that Kyiv and its allies rejected as false and illegal, Moscow announced the annexation of four Ukrainian provinces - Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine, but that Kyiv and its Western backers have rejected negotiations.

Both Kyiv and Washington assess that Russia does not want negotiations, while Moscow does not respond to Ukrainian preconditions, which include the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, including Crimea, which was occupied in 2014.

Lavrov told TASS that when it comes to how long the conflict will last, "the ball is in the regime's court, and Washington is behind it."