Russia says Ukraine war cannot be stopped without addressing root causes

ISTANBUL

The war in Ukraine cannot be stopped without addressing the root causes of the conflict, the Russian foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his Kyrgyz counterpart Jeenbek Kulubaev in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow briefed Bishkek on the latest developments surrounding the war.

In this regard, Lavrov said that Russia emphasized its commitment to achieving the goals of its “special military operation” and resolving the conflict by eliminating its root causes.

“The understanding that without this it will be impossible to achieve an end to the conflict is growing, including, by the way, in Europe and the United States,” Lavrov said.

The Russian foreign minister further said that Moscow has particularly underlined that it can only talk about “reliable, legally binding agreements, which must include a mechanism to make it impossible to violate them.”

He said that Russia welcomes the rich political dialogue it has with Kyrgyzstan at the highest level and conveyed Moscow’s readiness to provide all necessary assistance to Bishkek during its chairmanship in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).


The CSTO is a military alliance consisting of Russia and the former Soviet states of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Kyrgyzstan assumed the chairmanship of the CSTO as of Jan. 1.