Russia says Trump is ‘the only Western leader’ who ‘understands the roots of the crisis’ in Ukraine

MADRID, December 10 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that United States President Donald Trump is “the only Western leader” who “understands the roots of the crisis” in Ukraine and the current situation the country is going through, statements that come as Washington appears to be growing impatient with the position taken by the European Union on a possible peace agreement to end the war.

In a speech to Parliament, Lavrov noted that “immediately after arriving at the White House, Trump began to show signs that he understood what was happening and the reasons that made the war in Ukraine inevitable.” “It also highlights the hostile actions of his predecessors in power against Russia for many years,” he said.

“There is growing impatience in the United States, especially Trump, who, as I said before, is the only one who seems to understand. And this story is now coming to a head,” he said, while emphasizing that the New York tycoon “sees the need to address the roots of this problem” and its connection to the fact that “the rights of many people have been compromised by those who came to power following the 2014 coup.”

In this sense, he said that Trump has also shown himself to be “the only Western leader concerned about human rights” regarding this issue and that he is considering the possibility of “guaranteeing the rights of minorities” in Ukraine. It is an issue that the American and Russian sides have addressed, he said, before expressing that “it is good that we talk about it”.

“We ask Ukraine to respect all standards relating to minorities and religious freedoms accepted in the European Union,” he insisted, not without emphasizing that “human rights must not be ignored” when addressing these issues, according to information collected by the Russian news agency TASS.

Lavrov criticized the “mania” of believing that “Europeans are above any norms, traditions or laws in force in other parts of the world.” “This is why Trump and his partners are talking more and more about the deep crisis the EU is going through and the idea that it is going in the wrong direction,” he added.

“The EU cannot accept the fact that Russia will win and achieve its legitimate goals, which is why European leaders continue to adhere to futile policies of support for kyiv,” he said. “Europe has been blinded by its desire to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. It cannot imagine a situation in which it will have to swallow defeat, but that is clearly its problem,” he stressed.

“We appreciate President Trump’s willingness to engage in dialogue and resolve the conflict in Ukraine through political and diplomatic means,” continued Lavrov, who highlighted the negotiations between the United States and Russia held last week, during which an agreement was reached to “continue this work.”

RUSSIA WILL RESPOND

Concerning the possibility of a European military deployment finally carried out in Ukraine, he declared that “there will be a forceful response”, while ruling out that Moscow was “seeking a war with Europe”. “This idea has not crossed our minds, but we will respond to any hostile act,” he said.

“This includes the deployment of European military contingents in Ukraine,” added the minister, who also clarified that there would be a response in the event that “they appropriate Russian means”, as some leaders are requesting.

He further stressed the importance for the United Nations to “stop playing a partial role” with regard to Ukraine. “We ask them to stop Ukrainianizing everything. Their positions have been privatized by the West and their entire policy has been dictated, to a large extent, by NATO and EU members,” he stressed.

“Political, peace, humanitarian and security issues within the UN framework are all mechanisms of influence. All this is in the hands of Western colleagues, who unfortunately take advantage of it. We must start thinking about the future of the UN so that what has already happened with the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) does not happen again,” he concluded.