Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister said Keir Starmer’s plan for a peace deal in the Ukraine war is ‘insolent’ – and a continuation of ‘pitting the Kyiv regime against us’
Ukraine: Russia condemns plans for Western peacekeepers
Sir Keir Starmer has been slammed by Moscow over his plans for a peace deal in Ukraine involving British “boots on the ground and planes in the air”.
The PM was angrily dismissed as “insolent” by Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov – who said the Anglo-French blueprint – which contains a month-long partial ceasefire, was unacceptable to Moscow. “President [Emmanuel] Macron is constantly throwing around some ideas, same as [Sir Keir] Starmer,” said the Kremlin’s senior diplomat.
“They say they are preparing some thousands of peacekeepers, that they will give them air support. This is also insolent. This plan of introducing peacekeepers to Ukraine is a continuation of pitting the Kyiv regime against us.”
Referring to the 2014 revolution which brought a pro-Western government to office, he said: “Just as they brought [the incumbent Ukrainian authorities] to power through force…. now they want to support it through the force of their peacekeeping units.
“But this does not mean that the root cause [of the war] will disappear”, he warned. Lavrov claimed the West was bitterly divided. The Trump administration “say outright that they want to end all wars, that they want peace”, but Europe “demands that the banquet of war goes on”.
Lavrov lavished praise on Trump’s team which is seen by critics as being strongly pro-Russian, and hostile to Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine. US State Secretary Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz were “absolutely reasonable in all meanings of the word”, said Lavrov, 74.
“They communicate based on the fact that they do not command us, and we do not command them. Simply two serious countries sitting down for a discussion of what is going wrong, what their predecessor [the Biden administration] broke over the past four years.”
Lavrov said Trump is a “pragmatist, whose motto is ‘common sense’”. The veteran envoy said: “This gives a living, human character to [Trump’s] politics. So things are interesting with him.” Trump’s thinking was not to let disagreements “come to war”.
Lavrov voiced hatred of Zelensky who for three years has stymied Russia and its invasion. “From a man who came to power on slogans of peace, on slogans of ‘leave the Russian language alone, it is our common language, our common culture’, in six months he turned into a pure Nazi,” he said.
Zelensky was a “traitor to the Jewish people”, he claimed, alluding to the Ukrainian president’s Jewish family background. Trump is today due to meet his national security team to decide how to respond to the Oval Office bust up with Zelensky on Friday.
Some of the president’s aides may push for Zelensky’s resignation, with an end to US military aid to Ukraine also possible. Sir Keir hosted a Sunday meeting in London aimed at acting as a “bridge” to the US in facilitating a peace agreement with a key aim of strengthening Ukraine’s security. This could involve peacekeepers, with soldiers as well as aerial cover in Ukraine.
Macron said the idea of an early month-long ceasefire in the air and at sea, with strikes against energy facilities barred, is to test whether Russia is serious about wanting peace.
“The UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air,” said Sir Keir. Lavrov turned his fire on Europe for all the problems in the past 500 years, stating that the US and Russia were faultless. “All the tragedies of the world were born in Europe or thanks to European policy,” he claimed.
“Colonisation, wars, crusaders, the Crimean War, Napoleon, World War I, Hitler. And if you look at history retrospectively, the Americans did not play any instigating role. And now, after Biden’s term, people have come who want to be guided by common sense.
“[They] directly say ‘we want to end all wars, we want peace’. And who is now demanding a continuation of the banquet in the form of war? Europe. The….plan in Ukraine is a continuation of inciting the Kyiv regime to war against us….”
Europe had programmed Zelensky to be a wrecking ball against Russia, claimed Lavrov.
“They incited Zelensky to make a 180-degree turn,” he said. This turned him into a “pure Nazi”.
