Lavrov: Russia Has Not Changed Its Position Ahead of Abu Dhabi Talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on October 31 at a press conference following the first day of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Atlanta that Moscow has not changed its position since the beginning of the special military operation.

Lavrov said that "our position has not changed, it has never changed," emphasizing that the goals of the operation were announced from the outset.

Lavrov listed three key conditions: Russia does not accept military threats from Ukraine to its legitimate security interests, does not accept Western plans to turn Ukraine into a permanent such threat, and rejects what he called the discrimination of Russian-speaking populations and "Nazi ideology" in Ukraine.

According to Lavrov, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump remains the only Western side that has recognized the "root causes" of the Ukrainian crisis. He referenced agreements reached at the summit in Anchorage in August 2024, but expressed regret: Washington failed to persuade Kyiv to accept American proposals that the Russian side supported. Lavrov assessed that European countries were responsible for this, as they pressured Trump not to insist on implementing these proposals.