Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has once again placed the blame for the lack of progress in ending the war on the United States and used the topic of the 2022 Istanbul talks to explain why russia refuses to provide Ukraine with real security guarantees.
This was reported by analysts at the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
According to ISW, in an interview with the russian NTV channel on February 10, Lavrov accused Washington of "unfair behavior" during peace efforts, mentioned new sanctions against russia and secondary tariffs on russian oil imports. He also stated that US policy under President Donald Trump is allegedly "moving in the wrong direction." This rhetoric was supported by Aleksey Chepa, the first deputy chairman of the russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs, emphasizing that the US's "actions, not words" prove that America remains an "adversary" of russia.
Analysts note that Lavrov again appealed to the so-called 2022 Istanbul Protocols, which the Kremlin regularly refers to as a "basis for peace" to justify its position against providing Ukraine with effective security guarantees.
"Lavrov also directly referred to russia's position enshrined in the 2022 Istanbul Protocols, which the Kremlin periodically refers to as an appropriate basis for a peace agreement, to justify russia's continued refusal to provide meaningful security guarantees to Ukraine," the ISW report says.
In particular, under the draft Istanbul agreements, russia would act as a "guarantor state" for Ukraine along with China, and would receive veto power over a response mechanism in the event of new aggression, while Ukraine would have to remain neutral, sharply limit its own Armed Forces, and refuse military assistance from allies.
"The Kremlin is trying to force the United States to abandon recent US-led negotiations with Ukraine and Europe in favor of a US-russian settlement that is almost entirely based on russian demands that have not changed throughout the war," ISW analysts concluded.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on February 5, representatives of Ukraine, the US, and the aggressor country of russia held extensive discussions at talks in Abu Dhabi, which, in particular, included the issue of implementing a ceasefire and its monitoring.
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