Vicious circle in dialogue with US on Ukraine, Western ambitions: Lavrov's statements

ST. PETERSBURG, June 5. /TASS/. A vicious circle is observed in the dialogue with the United States on the Ukrainian settlement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Izvestia.

He noted that the West has always openly nurtured the dangerous undertaking of suppressing and dismembering Russia.

TASS has compiled the key statements of the top Russian diplomat.

The West has always openly nurtured the dangerous undertaking of suppressing and dismembering Russia: "The West has never hidden that it wants to deprive our neighbors of the benefits of cooperation with Russia and wants them to pay the price of the gamble that the West has always nurtured and continues to nurture, meaning the suppression, and even better, the dismemberment of Russia."

Achieving the goals of the special military operation "would significantly strengthen" Russia's position in the international arena.

Full normalization of relations between Russia and the United States should include the presence of the American ambassador: "This is an American decision (the absence of an ambassador – TASS). Any country has the right to determine the level of its diplomatic representation in foreign countries. If it's convenient for them. Of course, full normalization should include a full-fledged head of the diplomatic mission, the ambassador."

The United States has left unanswered a proposal to lift sanctions against parliamentarians of the two countries: "I've reminded them a couple of times, but there's no reaction to it."

Moscow does not object to the fact that the US Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and entrepreneur Jared Kushner, while conducting dialogue with Russia, are also dealing with other agendas, including various settlement issues: "The main thing is that what you talk about, what you agree upon, gets done."

Special envoy of the US President Steve Witkoff and businessman Jared Kushner are sincerely interested in normalizing relations with Russia, but this has not materialized yet: "We appreciate that the negotiators, Messrs. Witkoff and Kushner, have very kind feelings for our country. As far as we can judge from their statements, they are sincerely interested in normalizing these relations, but their interests have not materialized yet."

A vicious circle is observed in the dialogue with the United States on the Ukrainian settlement: "And we're walking in this circle."

Russia notes no progress in the settlement around Ukraine almost a year after the Anchorage summit and no desire to convince the Kiev regime to accept Washington's proposals: "On