Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that the European countries are ready to do whatever they can to keep Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his regime in power.
"All these peacekeeping schemes that [French President Emmanuel] Macron and [British Prime Minister Keir] Starmer are drawing up are based on the fact that this is necessary in order to preserve at least a piece of land on which the Nazi, openly Russophobic regime will remain, aimed at preparing another war against Russia, as was done with the Minsk agreements," Lavrov noted in an interview with the Kommersant.
In addition, the Russian top diplomat stressed the fact that no one in Europe "mentions elections" in Ukraine is further evidence that European leaders seek to maintain Zelensky in power, although his term officially ended in May 2024. "This is a very big problem for the reputation and image of the West," Lavrov concluded.