Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday implicated Western countries of wanting a ceasefire in Ukraine so they could rearm Kyiv with sophisticated weapons.Talk of settlements for a ceasefire or peace handle the three-year conflict has come forward following Donald Trumps success in last months United States presidential election.The West is beginning to speak about a ceasefire as a way to give Ukraine a respite, and give themselves the opportunity to when again pump Ukraine up with contemporary long-range weapons, Lavrov said during a conference in Moscow with his Hungarian equivalent Peter Szijjarto.
This, of course, is not a path to peace, he added.Lavrov was speaking as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was on a surprise see to Kyiv, where he held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.Scholz became the very first significant Western leader to hold direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in more than a year last month, in which he advised the Kremlin to be available to striking a deal with Kyiv.Putin has openly demanded that Ukraine cede swathes of area throughout its east and south as a prerequisite to halting the fighting.Zelensky has actually consistently ruled out giving up land for peace throughout the dispute, though he stated Sunday that his nation needed security assurances from NATO and more weapons to protect itself before any talks with Russia.