End of UK-RO Foreign Ministers Meeting Confirms Only Differences in Views on Ukraine Crisis

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Liz Truss, the UK Foreign Secretary, visited Moscow, Russia on the 10th (local time) and discussed the crisis surrounding Ukraine with Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, but only confirmed differences in positions and ended without any achievements.

On the 10th (local time), Secretary Truss discussed solutions to the Ukraine crisis with Foreign Minister Lavrov in Moscow, but the meeting concluded with both sides only reaffirming their existing positions.

After the meeting, Secretary Truss said at a joint press conference, "Minister Lavrov said that Russia has no plans to invade Ukraine, but we need to see such words backed up by actions."

She added, "We need to see the (Russian) troops and equipment deployed at the Ukrainian border move elsewhere," arguing, "Because currently, they are taking a very threatening posture."

Secretary Truss particularly urged Russia to withdraw the troops deployed near the Ukrainian border, stating, "Russia still has time to end its offensive against Ukraine, which undermines Russia's position on the international stage and instead strengthens NATO allies' resolve."

However, Minister Lavrov expressed disappointment, saying, "Today’s dialogue felt like a conversation between the deaf and the mute," and claimed, "Secretary Truss either does not understand our detailed explanations or completely ignores them." He also emphasized that he could not understand the concerns about Russia’s military movements within its own territory while demanding Russia withdraw its troops.

He also explained the Russia-Belarus joint exercises that began on that day and the relationship between the two countries.

Regarding the Western claim that Russia violated its promise by annexing the Crimean Peninsula, which belonged to Ukraine, despite pledging to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, he refuted this. He argued it was a legitimate response to the 2014 coup by Ukrainian far-right nationalists who oppressed Russian-speaking residents within Ukraine.

Minister Lavrov also strongly expressed dissatisfaction with the European Union (EU) sending a collective response to Russia’s request for individual EU member states’ positions on the principle of 'indivisible security' in Europe, saying, "Dialogue cannot proceed this way." The principle of indivisible security means that one country should not undermine another country’s security to ensure its own security.

Russia claims that Ukraine is threatening Russia by involving the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for its own security.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.