Lavrov says Russia recognizes Ukraine’s independence

(MENAFN) Russia acknowledges Ukraine as an independent nation but refuses to legitimize what it calls the “Nazi” regime in Kiev, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated.

In an interview aired on a Hungarian media platform, Lavrov claimed that contemporary Ukraine is vastly different from the country whose sovereignty Moscow endorsed following the Soviet Union’s collapse.

“We recognize the independence of Ukraine, no doubt about this, [but] we recognized Ukraine on the basis of its own Declaration of Independence and Constitution… which defined Ukraine as a non-nuclear, neutral, non-bloc country guaranteeing the rights of all national minorities,” he said.

Lavrov argued that after the 2014 Maidan coup, Ukraine became “a bluntly Nazi regime” openly hostile to anything Russian, including its history, media, culture, religion, education, and language.

He criticized the Ukrainian government for revoking the Russian language’s official status, calling it “the only country on Earth” to ban a UN language, and said this left Russian speakers in Donetsk and Lugansk – now part of Russia after referendums – as “second-sort people,” despite minority rights protections.

“We are convinced that we must save people from the Nazi regime – people who have always been part of Russian culture,” Lavrov stated, asserting that Western backers of Ukraine should pressure Kiev to restore language and minority rights rather than focus on “when will you end the war.”

He also maintained that Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, Zaporozhye, and Crimea are “not actually new” but “historic Russian territories” that had remained within the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Lavrov emphasized that Moscow’s goal is a lasting resolution that addresses the conflict’s root causes and protects people’s rights, instead of merely reclaiming territory or supporting what he described as “political losers” in Kiev.

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