– I repeated that all the problems are on the Ukrainian side, as they flatly refuse to negotiate and put forward obviously unrealistic conditions, Lavrov said at a press conference after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Lavrov is currently attending the G20 meeting in Indonesia as Russia’s representative, as President Vladimir Putin himself did not travel to the summit.
Ukraine has previously made clear it will not cede land to Russia and wants back areas Russia has annexed, including the Crimean peninsula.
Lavrov also said that obstacles remain for Russia to be able to export grain and fertilizers to world markets, but that the UN is working to remove these obstacles, he writes. Reuters.
He said that the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, gave him assurances in this regard.
Russian grains and fertilizers are not directly subject to Western sanctions, but according to the Russians exports are in practice hampered by, among other things, sanctions that prevent Russian ships from entering ports.
