Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov (pictured) told Ria Novosti on Monday that the United States wants a ceasefire in Ukraine "as quickly as possible without addressing the root causes of the conflict."
"But, as it was emphasized both in Riyadh and earlier, a ceasefire without a long-term settlement is a path to an early resumption of fire and the resumption of the conflict with even more severe consequences, including consequences for Russian-American relations. We do not want this," Ryabkov stressed. He instead called for a "long-term solution which must necessarily include an element of overcoming the root causes of what was happening in Ukraine and around it."
This solution, Ryabkov added, couldn't be achieved without first eliminating the causes of the conflict, which he identified as "NATO expansion, ignoring the coup d'etat in Ukraine and Kiev's failure to comply with the Minsk agreements, as well as the violation of the rights of Russian speakers in this country."
