No bargaining about rights of Russian-speaking people at any peace talks — Lavrov

MOSCOW, September 17. /TASS/. Resolving the Ukraine conflict shall not come with any bargaining for the rights of Russian-speaking people, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in opening remarks at the 4th Congress of the International Russophile Movement (MIR).

"Whenever we tell some of our colleagues who, as if out of good intentions, ask if they could perhaps help us or offer mediation services, we say, Tell them [the Kiev regime] not to ban Russian’. And they say in reply, That could be a condition when the talks begin’," Russia’s top diplomat said.

"There cannot be any bargaining for obligations that everyone assumed and must honor. But the West forgives the Kiev regime for everything," he lamented.

According to Lavrov, apart from the principle of territorial integrity, singled out by the West in the UN Charter, there are many other things in it too, including the right to self-determination and guarantees mandatory for all UN members, namely "respect for human rights, regardless of the race, gender, language and religion."