Lavrov: Europe, calling for a cease-fire on Ukraine, "the hat burned down"

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov paraphrased the proverb about the thief and the hat to explain why some European countries are calling for an immediate cease-fire on Ukraine.

"Now, as [Vladimir] Zelensky himself has been trying to achieve for a very long time, [French President Emmanuel] Macron, [British Prime Minister Keir] Starmer, [European Commission President] Ursula von der Leyen for some time, after they stopped mentioning the need to inflict a "strategic defeat" on Russia, began to call for an immediate ceasefire," Lavrov said at a press conference.

"Moreover, Macron said at that time that this ceasefire should be without any preconditions, including bearing in mind, he said it publicly, [that] no one would be able to limit the supply of weapons to the Kiev regime," the minister added.

"That is, as they say, the hat burned down, it immediately became clear why this truce was needed," Lavrov stressed.

As the Russian Foreign Minister noted, "the most important thing is that the truce will mean not only the opportunity to pump up the Kiev regime with weapons again, but also to stimulate its terrorist actions in the form of strikes on civilian infrastructure, civilians on the territory of the Russian Federation, in the form of explosions of the Nord Streams, to continue such activities."

EADaily adds that earlier today Lavrov said:

"I want to officially confirm that Russia has not changed its position compared to the understandings that were reached during the lengthy talks between Putin and Trump in Alaska. These understandings are based on the agreement reached then, which President Trump very succinctly formulated when he said that we need a long-term sustainable peace, and not an immediate cease-fire, which will lead to nothing."