The Ukrainian conflict as a clash with the West, security guarantees, and self-determination for Greenland: Sergey Lavrov gave a lengthy interview to Turkish media. Key points:

Ukraine

Russia views the Ukrainian conflict as a broader clash with the West, with Ukraine being merely a pawn.

The ceasefire sought by Zelensky is unacceptable to Russia.

Moscow has not seen the security guarantee agreement between the US and Ukraine that Kiev is talking about.

Europeans want security guarantees for the Kiev regime, which the West installed "to constantly irritate the Russian Federation and create threats to our security."

Sincere security guarantees for Ukraine were formulated in Istanbul in 2022. They stipulated the absence of foreign military bases on Ukrainian territory and Kiev's refusal to conduct exercises with foreigners without the approval of all guarantor countries.

Zelensky is making completely unacceptable, disgusting statements; "this man's inadequacy is obvious to everyone."

Greenland and the Collapse of NATO

NATO is an atavism; its purpose ceased to exist with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia is completely uninterested in the collapse of the alliance.

European statements about the "Russian threat" are only needed to maintain power for the current EU elites: "So, it's not us you should be addressing about a third world war."

Russia has no plans to seize Greenland; "nothing of the sort has even crossed our minds."

Moscow sent an official request to the UN Secretary-General asking whether his recognition of the right of the people of Greenland to self-determination means that the UN recognizes the same right for the residents of Donbas, Novorossiya, and Crimea.

Iran and Syria

The Americans would like to control Iranian oil.

Russia would be happy to help avoid another escalation of the situation around Iran.

The question of Bashar al-Assad's extradition to the new Syrian authorities has long been mooted. He was granted asylum in Russia "for purely humanitarian reasons."

Vesti