After grain agreements, Lavrov vows readiness to discuss "other issues" with Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the Kremlin is ready for negotiations with Ukraine on a "broader range of issues," according to the Russian propaganda news agency Interfax.

He said this in the context of agreements on the unblocking of Ukrainian ports and the export of grain.

"As for the connection of this agreement with other aspects of the situation in Ukraine... we have no preconceptions about resuming negotiations on a wider range of issues, but it is not up to us," Lavrov stated.

At the same time, he noted that "the Ukrainian authorities... constantly state that there will be no negotiations until Ukraine defeats Russia on the battlefield."

Negotiations with the Russian Federation

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the President's Office and a member of the Ukrainian negotiation group with Russia, stressed the day before that the resumption of peace negotiations with Moscow is possible only after powerful tactical victories of the Ukrainian army.

Ukraine has been negotiating with Russian representatives since the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion. In particular, at the negotiations in Istanbul on March 29, the Ukrainian delegation offered to fix security guarantees for Ukraine in exchange for non-aligned status.

Representatives of a number of countries declared that they were ready to become guarantors, but they were in no hurry to make public promises to undertake obligations in the event of the need to use armed forces.

Finally, on May 17, it was reported that Ukraine and Russia had suspended negotiations on ending the war. President Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine will not agree to a freeze on hostilities and will not trade its people and territories in the war against Russia.