Putin’s aide Lavrov has issued a chilling warning ahead of crucial US-Russia peace talks on the ongoing Ukraine conflict. In a stark message, Lavrov emphasized that there will be “no compromise on Ukraine” regarding territorial concessions. With tensions running high, Lavrov’s statement reaffirms Russia’s firm stance on preserving its territorial integrity and rejecting any agreements that would require ceding land. As the world awaits the outcome of these pivotal negotiations, Lavrov’s warning sets the stage for what could be a tense and defining moment in international diplomacy, with the future of Ukraine hanging in the balance.
#LavrovWarning #USRussiaPeaceTalks #PutinAide #UkraineConflict #TerritoryConcessions #LavrovStatement #USRussiaRelations #UkrainePeaceTalks #RussiaDiplomacy #PeaceNegotiations #RussiaUkraineCrisis #PutinLavrov #NoConcessions #TerritorialIntegrity #DiplomaticTensions
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NewsTranscript
00:00It means that after long years of warnings made us to start – made us start the special
00:09military operation.
00:10We value their weighted policy, resting on national interests, which I think is the reason
00:20for the successful development of our bilateral relationship in the future.
00:27One of the most important mechanisms maintaining our connection, most important of the intergovernmental
00:34Russian-Serbian Committee on Trade, Economic Cooperation, at last session, later session
00:44took place in November last year in St. Petersburg, and on the 4th of February the co-chairs met
00:54in Moscow.
00:55We went through a wide range of topics, from the need to give an increase to our trade
01:03and economic cooperation, increasing our trade turnover, which declined somewhat over the
01:10first 10 months of last year, compared to 2003.
01:17Apart from trade and economic plans, investment plans, and technology cooperation plans, they
01:23also discussed cultural and humanitarian projects, as well as cooperation on nuclear
01:30medicine.
01:31So, as you can see, the range is quite broad.
01:38Today we have discussed in detail the situation in energy.
01:42Cooperation, as you know, Russia is the biggest supplier of natural gas to Serbia, covering
01:49an updated 5 percent of its needs, and Russia has never, and once, let down our Serbian
01:59friends, providing them reliably with commercial sources of energy.
02:07Our mutually beneficial cooperation does not go well with certain forces in the West.
02:15And those forces still try to attempt to reshape the market, resulting to unfair methods
02:24of competition.
02:25Essentially, they continue the course that we have been observing for the most part of
02:35the European Union, where affordable and reliable Russian gas has been pushed out.
02:44And they're trying to replace it with American liquefied natural gas that costs much more.
02:52This is something that the European leaders have been starting to talk out loud.
02:58And today we are facing a situation where those who are used to unfair competition are trying
03:08to enforce restrictive measures on Russian and Serbian – the flagship of Serbian economy.
03:18It is literally being forced to give up cooperation with a Russian investor.
03:27In this connection, we have agreed with our Serbian friends to continue our work aimed
03:32at preventing the harming of our common interests.
03:37In terms of foreign policy and other areas, we're going to open new lines of work in
03:47healthcare, innovation, and high technology.
03:53We have made great headway in that we have confirmed our preparedness to expand cooperation,
04:02taking into account large-scale plans that Serbia has to modernize its transport and
04:08other infrastructure in view of the specialized expo that Belgrade is going to host in 2027.
04:21We paid a lot of attention to a date that is important for both of us, the 80th anniversary
04:27of the great victory.
04:29On the 9th of May this year, Russia will be hosting festivities.
04:35And President of Serbia, Alexander Vucic, confirmed the presence of any – we are grateful
04:43for the welcome of hospitality extended to the Russian diplomats that visited Serbia
04:50in December 2024 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of liberating capital of Serbia
04:58from the Nazi invasion.
05:01We will continue working on our joint efforts in preserving our shared cultural heritage.
05:07We have agreed to boost our humanitarian ties.
05:10Last year, Belgrade successfully hosted the fifth Russian-Serbian cultural forum.
05:17Serbia has a Russian Today channel that broadcasts to an audience of over 1.5 million people
05:25covering the Republic of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
05:31Since the new channel was commissioned, RT Balkan, it was commissioned in the Serbian language.
05:41Broadcasting in Serbian language.
05:44The Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Centre in the city of Nis works.
05:51It has been already successful since its establishment in 2012.
05:55It is used as many times for prevention and mitigating the consequences of natural disasters
06:03and other projects.
06:06The Minister of Emergencies of the Russian Federation is completing the creation of
06:11a new training ground equipped with Russian hardware.
06:18The completion of this centre will allow to turn the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Centre
06:25into a truly unique regional platform to train emergency response specialists.
06:34Of course, we have discussed actual topics of international agenda.
06:41On the international arena, we together with our Serbian friends are guided by the principles
06:47of the UN Charter and their fullness, advocating for a more fair people's rights world order,
06:59guided by the fundamental principle of equality of states set forth in the very first article
07:06of the UN Charter.
07:08We also discussed practical aspects of our joint work in the United Nations and other
07:15international platforms.
07:17I on my part confirmed Russia's willingness to help Serbia protect its legal interests
07:24regarding Kosovo.
07:27We will stay committed to draw an attention to that in the United Nations.
07:33We are united that Resolution 1244, which is fundamental in the settlement of the Kosovo
07:41conflict, must fully retain its relevance.
07:47We discussed the situation in the southeast Europe, broadly with support of its course
07:55to build in constructive and enabling relationships with all Balkan countries, including, of course,
08:04Bosnia and Herzegovina.
08:08In those regards, we should strictly adhere to the DATAN Accords.
08:17We think this policy of Belgrade is a very important factor in maintaining regional stability.
08:24We have also reconfirmed the position that Russian leadership takes, and many times we
08:33support Serbian leadership and President Vucic's efforts to prevent destabilization of the
08:40situation in the country.
08:44President Vucic came up with specific facts on gross interference of other states into
08:52Serbia's internal processes, a practice that we condemn, and we insist that these principles
09:02should be strictly observed by all countries, first of all our Western counterparts that
09:10have long based their activities on using so-called non-governmental organizations,
09:20funded by state money, to destabilize the situation within countries where they want
09:34to have more leverage, more influence, ignoring the core interests of the people of such countries.
09:45I'm very satisfied with the results of our negotiations, and we have, Minister and myself,
09:53agreed to stay in touch and stay in contact.
10:00Minister, dear colleagues, I would like to thank you for the Serbian delegation here in Moscow.
10:14Since we Serbs love history, I would like to start with the fact that two days ago we
10:22celebrated the anniversary of Serbian independence and the Serbs' rebellion against the Ottoman Empire.
10:40We in Serbia remember very well that back then the Russian Tsar supported the desire
10:49for Slavic Orthodox people's liberty and independence.
10:54And the help from the Russian Empire, we value that.
11:03And in the Berlin Congress in 1898 in confirming Serbia's independence, one of the key factors
11:11for that was Russia's support.
11:15And, of course, we remember the events of World War I.
11:22There is a monument to Nikolai II, the center of Belgrade, since Russia provided a lot of
11:30assistance back then.
11:31And we remember World War II and the great victory.
11:36This year we're going to celebrate together the anniversary of that victory.
11:41President Vucic is going to visit Moscow and together on the Red Square we will celebrate
11:48this great anniversary honoring the memory of Soviet and Serbian fighters who gave their lives
11:56for Serbia and the whole of Europe to be free.
12:02I hope that this traditional friendly relationship preserves, remains, and leads to realization
12:16of the full potential.
12:17And we will work actively together with our Russian partners on achieving those goals
12:24and fulfilling that potential.
12:27I'm very satisfied that at the beginning of this year we are discussing and giving an additional
12:33impulse to our cooperation.
12:37Recently there was the 20th session of the Anti-Governmental Commission on Trade and
12:44Other Cooperation between our countries, and the economic cooperation that exists needs
12:51to be strengthened ever more.
12:54And the air flights between Belgrade and Moscow and St. Petersburg and other cities such as Kazan
13:01and Sochi are a great opportunity for various kinds of exchange between our countries.
13:09And I encourage as many Russian citizens as possible to come to Serbia.
13:16We want to see as many as possible Russian tourists coming to our country free of any visas.
13:25This will also boost economic cooperation between our countries.
13:29I would also like to emphasize that we discussed strategic political aspects.
13:35Serbia is free and independent in its policy.
13:41On the basis of the fact that the people of Serbia want to see their country free and independent,
13:50so I thank our friends in Russia for their support of the territorial integrity and sovereignty
13:58of Serbia when it comes to Kosovo and Metohija.
14:03Seventeen years ago, in the case of Serbia, the international law was trumpled.
14:13Kosovo and Metohija were unilaterally declared free, something that was done against the
14:21international law, against the Resolution 1244 of the UN, against the will of most people
14:29in Serbia who had never been consulted.
14:37There had been no full referendum in Kosovo and Metohija.
14:44And in the preceding period, human rights had been eroded on that territory as well as democracy.
14:53And some people used this to justify their illegal actions.
15:00We are thankful for Russia, however, for their principle and firm stance on Kosovo and Metohija.
15:08And I hope that through global changes in the world community, an opportunity will reopen
15:15to settle this issue in a civilized and legal, lawful manner.
15:20I am proud to be presenting an independent country that aspires to contribute to regional
15:26stability in Southeast Europe.
15:29I am proud that our economy is growing by more than 4%, growing while many European
15:38economies are in recession.
15:42Serbia is on a European track, but Serbia will never forget to put aside its traditional
15:52friendship, its longstanding friends, and we will continue to develop constructive relationships
15:58with the Russian Federation as well as other partners and friends on the international arena.
16:05I think it's very important to emphasize that Serbia is in favor of settling all world
16:13conflicts in a peaceful manner.
16:15President Vucic says, and I reiterate that, that Serbia is willing to host international
16:23delegations to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, and I hope that soon there will be peace in
16:34the European continent.
16:37Finally, I'd like to say that we discussed cooperation in the energy sphere.
16:44It's very important for Serbia to be able to count on the support of our Russian friends
16:53in matters of reliable supplies of natural gas and other energy sources.
17:02We don't want Serbian people to act as collateral of any international sanctions, and we don't
17:10support sanctions as a mechanism of international influence at all, because in the 90s we had
17:18our chance to feel this, and today we don't want anyone to feel anything like that.
17:30And it's important for us that people of Serbia don't suffer any consequences of sanctions.
17:41So we will continue consultations on this matter, and President Vucic will be talking
17:47to officials in the Russian Federation on this matter.
17:52Serbia has never imposed any sanctions against the Russian Federation, the only country in
17:58this regard.
17:59And President Vucic has reiterated that we will not do that, and we will maintain a firm
18:05stance according to the historical nature of our relationship.
18:12Once again, my heartfelt congratulations and gratitude for your hospitality.
18:20And I'm sure that we are looking for a very good year for the Russian-Serbian cooperation.
18:28Mr. Lavrov, in the last hour of news, you are going to Riyadh to take part in the Russian-American
18:37negotiations.
18:38That's true.
18:39What do you expect at this meeting?
18:44Always, when we go to negotiations, what we do first, what we want to do is to listen
18:51to our partners up front.
18:53When President Trump and Putin talked on the phone, they agreed on the need to put aside
19:03the absurd period in the relationship between the two great superpowers when they essentially
19:09didn't communicate at all aside from certain technical issues.
19:17And the presidents agreed that the dialogue should be restored or resumed on all matters
19:24that can somehow be settled with the contribution of the United States and Russia.
19:35They mentioned the Ukrainian settlement, the situation in the Middle East, as well as a
19:42number of other regions that are currently in an unfavorable situation.
19:49So we are going to listen to our American counterparts, and of course, we are willing
19:54to respond, and then I will report that my superiors will then decide on subsequent steps.
20:07MODERATOR Good afternoon.
20:09The question is for Minister Lavrov.
20:11You mentioned a little while ago that you confirmed the participation of the Russian
20:16Federation at the Expo 2027 in Belgrade.
20:19Do you confirm that Russian delegation is going to come to the Expo exhibition?
20:25And how does your country see this participation at the Expo exhibition in Serbia?
20:33There is also a question for Minister Djuric.
20:39Many countries can't say they have good relations with Russia and Kiev.
20:46How do you see Serbia's work on this path?
20:51Taking part in the Expo 2027 exhibition in Belgrade, we are grateful for this invitation,
21:00and today Marko Djuric confirmed that we are expected there.
21:06And I take his word on that.
21:08He promised us the best venue in downtown Belgrade for the Russian pavilion.
21:18We wish our Serbian friends best success in hosting this very important exhibition.
21:28Thank you for your question, and thanks for the answer.
21:32Minister Lavrov will be an owner if Russia is represented at the Expo 2027.
21:42We expect this exhibition to gather many participating states, and as for our desire to contribute
21:54to the resolution on the situation in Ukraine, Serbia is a country of modest geopolitical capabilities
22:05considering its territorial population count.
22:09But we are really willing to make a contribution to this matter,
22:14and we're always willing and ready to host any formal or informal delegation.
22:22President Vucic has said this in public, and I'm sure that there will be negotiations with the Russian leadership
22:31on the top level regarding the energy issues.
22:37We are not going to miss an opportunity to offer Belgrade as the venue for any meeting or negotiation.
22:47And of course, every day that brings us closer to peace is very important,
22:54and that's the only goal that we aspire to.
23:00Minister Lavrov, I would like to comment on the results of the Munich Security Conference
23:09and the historical statements of Western leaders on the need to involve Europe in negotiations on Ukraine.
23:22And the European Parliament has drafted a report on Serbia.
23:28It speaks against the opening of RT Balkan TV channel.
23:32What does it say about the relationship of the European Parliament,
23:35the attitude of the European Parliament to Serbia and more broadly to European values?
23:43As for the results of the conference in Munich, I have the following to say.
23:53Everyone has to be responsible for their deeds.
24:00And when someone has for many years been doing atrocities,
24:06breaking their own declared rules of equality, fair competition,
24:15presumption of innocence, respect for private property, freedom of expressing opinion,
24:25ensuring free access to information, when all this is trampled blatantly,
24:36when private property is being plundered in violation of all norms of legal legislation,
24:44the Nazi regimes are encouraged when a Nazi regime is being pumped with money and weapons to kill their own citizens.
24:53When all this is done in expectation that they will somehow sit it out under a nuclear umbrella,
25:03this is not going to happen.
25:05One has to be held responsible for what they did.
25:10That is what the Bible says, after all.
25:19And as for European countries' willingness to take part in the negotiations process on Ukraine,
25:27their wish has been granted many times.
25:32In February 2014, the European Union, including France, Germany, signed ceremonially,
25:42pompously, an agreement between the then President of Ukraine Yanukovych and the armed opposition,
25:50an agreement that was guaranteed to be fulfilled.
25:56It provided for an interim government and an urgent election.
26:03They only had five or six months to wait.
26:08The next morning, the opposition trampled this agreement.
26:13This disagreement, we asked, we reached out to England, Germany and France as guarantors of this agreement.
26:23And they told us sheepishly that what happened happened, and sometimes democracy in its development can take on strange forms.
26:35That was their first chance.
26:37The second chance they were given are those mean agreements.
26:41And the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine spent 17-plus hours to fine-tune every character,
26:53every coma in this text, aimed at settling the Ukrainian situation by giving the special status to parts of Donbass
27:04as part of a unified Ukrainian state.
27:08The UN Security Council resolution approved that plan unanimously.
27:16From the very first day, Ukrainian forces started breaking it, violating it, bombarding and shelling Donbass.
27:28Instead of restoring the economic integrity of Ukrainian territory, they blockaded the region.
27:37They blockaded, water-blocked Crimea.
27:40They did many other things.
27:43And then Mrs Merkel and Mr Alland retired and started talking to journalists.
27:50They frankly confessed that they were not going to do any of this.
28:00They just needed time to arm Ukraine.
28:03Those were the chances they were given.
28:07At the Munich conference, words were said.
28:15I think the president of Finland, a close neighbour of ours, once a neutral state that had always campaigned for all things good against all things bad,
28:28their president in Munich said that a truce agreement must be signed and used to strengthen European military stance.
28:41The philosophy is still there.
28:46I really don't know what they have to do at the negotiations table if they still want to turn the conflict into freezing for a while
29:06while staying true to their habits of continuing the war.
29:10Then why should they be invited to the table at all?
29:13And as for the European Parliament speaking against the opening of RT Balkan TV channel,
29:29the TV channel is already open.
29:32We are grateful for the support of the relevant authorities in Serbia.
29:40Secondly, if the European Parliament refers to the fact that the work of this channel is against European values,
29:50the answer as to what the European values are, the answers can be found within minutes of the Munich conference in the speech given by DJ Vance.
30:13Mr Djuric, I have a question for you.
30:16In light of the Western sanctions against Russia, what do you think will mostly determine the relationship between Belgrade and Moscow?
30:32Thank you for your question.
30:34Serbia's international policy is determined by the people of Serbia, the citizens of Serbia.
30:41And President, as long as people ask President Djuric and ask to work with him,
30:55the people of Serbia say that Serbia is a country that for 25 years has been aspiring to European Union membership,
31:07but at the same time, in the spirit of our historical relationship with the Russian Federation that I have talked about today,
31:16in the spirit of that history, we must retain good, friendly relationships.
31:21In the spirit of future generations, we must retain our good relationship with the Russian Federation for the sake of the future.
31:31And in spite of the pressure exerted upon our country for many years,
31:39I can say that we are absolutely satisfied that over the previous years we have stood against the pressure exerted on our country.
31:49And sometimes this pressure is exerted from within as well.
31:57I won't elaborate on that today, but I would like to express my gratitude to the Russian Federation
32:03and to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation for supporting Serbia in its independence
32:10and in its desire to develop as a sovereign country.
32:15And once again, I am saying that Serbia will continue to pursue this political course in the future.
32:23Thank you, Minister Lavrov.
32:31Thank you very much, Minister Lavrov.
32:33The Trump administration has said that in order to achieve a lasting peace and ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine,
32:40that both sides will have to make painful compromises and concessions, which…
32:44You mean Denmark and Greenland, right?
32:49May I speak in English or Russian?
32:51No, let's speak in Russian.
32:52In Russian?
32:53In English, please.
32:54In English, okay. Thank you.
32:56May I speak in Russian?
32:57Yes, yes.
32:58Good.
32:59So the Trump administration has said that both Russia and Ukraine will have to make serious and painful compromises
33:05in order to achieve a lasting ceasefire and peace in Ukraine.
33:09Which territorial concessions and, in general, which compromises is Russia willing to make to achieve such a peace agreement?
33:30Compromises have been reached many times, mostly due to efforts of the Russian part.
33:38And after the Maidan of 2014, when Victoria Nuland, along with the American ambassador to Ukraine,
33:47discussed the membership of the new government after the coup d'etat,
33:56back then, in 2014 January, Nuland designated a place given by the United States to the European Union
34:06in deciding the fate of Ukraine.
34:08We remember that.
34:10Compromise was achieved.
34:12And the next morning, the opposition made a bloody coup d'etat in violation of all agreements.
34:23The second compromise was called the Minsk agreement, approved by the UN Security Council,
34:30becoming not a compromise but an international law.
34:33And that was trampled once again, first of all, by the Ukrainian junta
34:40and those who had guaranteed the Minsk agreement by Berlin and Paris.
34:45And they confessed to that openly.
34:50And the United States was watching the developments smugly from over the ocean,
34:58supplying weapons to the Ukrainian regime and supporting it in every way possible.
35:03In April 2024, as President Putin has said numerously, that was another compromise.
35:11The American representatives who currently speak a lot about how to approach the Ukrainian crisis
35:22it is still unclear as to which one of them will be appointed by President Trump
35:29to speak on the Ukrainian track on behalf of the Washington administration.
35:35They're also speaking about compromises.
35:39All of this is getting more and more like an academic discourse at the Munich conference.
35:49And indeed, they're already talking about territorial concessions.
35:53One needs to look up the history.
35:59The territorial concessions to what is currently called Ukraine were made by the Soviet leadership
36:10when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formed,
36:16when vast territories that had been for centuries explored by Russian people
36:28were built by the Soviet people.
36:33They were building seaports, enterprises, factories there, building infrastructure.
36:41And for reasons many times described by the President,
36:47they were included in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
36:51on the condition that all ideals of fraternity, equality,
36:58will be respected by Ukraine just like by all other socialist republics.
37:04That had worked until a certain – had worked until a certain time.
37:12The Ukrainian people had made their contribution to the great victory
37:19of Nazi Germany.
37:21But then something went wrong, and nationalist sentiments started brewing up in Ukraine first,
37:34underground, and then more and more open.
37:40And the USSR ceased to exist with nationalist and even Nazi sentiments.
37:51Sentiments of those who had collaborated with the Hitler's occupants,
38:06infiltrating public conscience.
38:13When first underground and then open paramilitary formation emerged,
38:20sporting their SS division insignia,
38:25and then ultimately representatives of those forces, nudged by the US administration,
38:37made state overthrow through the time 2014.
38:43The first thing they did, they cancelled the status of Russia as a state language.
38:49And when people in Crimea and Donbass said,
38:52wait for us, we will stay away from you, leave us alone,
38:56they immediately declared terrorists and started war against them.
39:04Using armed forces, aviation, artillery, and tanks.
39:11Using the army against one's own people in internal conflict
39:18is forbidden by many international conventions and treaties.
39:24But ultimately, the coup took place.
39:31We tried to prevent it.
39:33We tried to help the country recover from this dive into tragedy.
39:46But Poroshenko and Zelensky came to power as presidents of peace,
39:51lying to their voters, something that they still do.
39:56And if you read statements of those who work with Zelensky,
40:05and call themselves the government of Ukraine,
40:09call themselves the presidential administration,
40:13there you will see words like non-humans, you will see words like non-humans,
40:22you will see words like kill them, many Russians.
40:30And officials, officials in Ukraine and Kazakhstan said,
40:38our main goal is to kill as many Russians as possible so that our children have less of that job to do.
40:49And Zelensky himself, long before the special military operation in 2021,
40:54when answering an interview question about how,
41:03what he thinks about Ukrainians who are part of Russian culture and Russian history,
41:10he said they have no future.
41:13My advice to them, if they really feel part of all things Russian,
41:21then for the future of their children and grandchildren, they should get the hell out to Russia.
41:28Do you want this Nazi attitude in the Ukrainian armed forces?
41:45Look at the atrocities perpetrated by Hitler's occupants.
41:52Look at the atrocities perpetrated by them.
41:55So there shouldn't be even a hint of any territorial concessions.
42:09Shall we concede those territories with Russian people on them or without any Russian people on them,
42:16just with precious metal?
42:18Those fantasising about the United States helping in this resolution.
42:30And we do not throw out such help,
42:36especially considering the fact that the United States has been instrumental in the European conflict since the very beginning.
42:42I mentioned Victoria Nuland forming the junta government days before me.
42:47If we are talking about serious diplomacy,
42:52I think it is better to look up the history of this conflict,
43:00to see why Ukraine has banned Russian language in all spheres of life,
43:07why it has banned the Orthodox Church,
43:13why it has banned Article 1 of the UN Charter,
43:18and why none of the numerous initiatives that have been voiced from many parts of the world
43:27mention the territorial concessions.
43:36They only keep talking about territorial concessions.
43:42They want us to make those territorial concessions or Russian people be exterminated there.
43:53I'll probably stop there.
44:02I think I've answered.
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