Russian Foreign Minister: "This is already a form of schizophrenia" Country | Ukraine | Schizophrenia
On June 30th, Russian News Agency reported that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that Western countries claim it is necessary to end the conflict in Ukraine through negotiations, while emphasizing that Ukraine must achieve victory before that, and they are actually trying to prolong the conflict in Ukraine.
Reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that the conflict in Ukraine would end through diplomatic means. Earlier, he, along with other political figures from Western and NATO countries, stated that the first step is to defeat Russia on the battlefield and force it to retreat to the 1991 border.
Lavrov commented on this, "This is already a form of schizophrenia, and they say everything should be ended through negotiations, but first Russia must be defeated... This personality split does not help in correctly judging the situation. My assessment is that they are trying to temporarily freeze this conflict, achieve some kind of ceasefire, buy time, establish new military infrastructure for Ukraine, and hand over new deadly long-range weapons to it."
In addition, according to a report by Russian news agency, Lavrov said that Russia can handle the consequences of the Wagner incident on its own, and that Russia has overcome similar "setbacks" and become even stronger.
Lavrov: There is no reason to continue extending this agreement
According to Reuters, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said on June 30th that Russia has no reason to continue extending the Black Sea food export agreement because the West is treating it in an "intolerable" way. Russia also guarantees to impoverished countries that it will continue to export food.
Lavrov said, "The attitude of the West towards this agreement is intolerable." He specifically mentioned the positions of the United States and the United Kingdom.
Lavrov said that what ultimately made Russia determined was the attack on the Taoyati Odessa liquid ammonia pipeline. He believes that Ukraine launched an attack, and Ukraine in turn accused Russia of damaging the pipeline.
Lavrov said, "I don't think those who want to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative can provide any reason."
On June 30th, the United Nations called on all parties to "commit to maintaining and effectively implementing this agreement without further delay.".
Lavrov said, "If the Black Sea Grain Initiative fails, we will provide equal or more food to the poorest countries ourselves, and it will be free."
Russia and Ukraine are two major agricultural producing countries in the world, and are also major participants in the wheat, barley, corn, rapeseed, rapeseed oil, sunflower seeds, and sunflower seed oil markets.
With the promotion of the United Nations and Türkiye, on July 22, 2022, the United Nations, Russia, Türkiye and Ukraine reached the Black Sea Grain Initiative in Istanbul, aiming to restore Ukraine's grain, food and fertilizer exports through a safe maritime humanitarian corridor. Russia and the United Nations have both signed a memorandum of understanding to ensure that Russia's food and fertilizers can also enter the international market.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative was extended by 120 days in November 2022, and by 60 days in March and May 2023, respectively. The agreement will expire on July 17th.
The Russian side has repeatedly stated that the agreement on the normalization of Russian food and fertilizer exports has not been fulfilled, and the implementation of this agreement will determine whether Russia will continue to participate in the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vershinin has pointed out that the normalization of Russian agricultural product exports includes bank payments, transportation logistics, insurance, financial activities, and the normalization of ammonia transportation through the Taoriati Odessa pipeline.
