ANKARA: Moscow wants any Ukraine peace talks to focus on creating a “new world order”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.
He made the comment while visiting Turkey — which has retained ties with both Moscow and Kyiv — to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Russia, he said, rejects a “unipolar world order led by ‘one hegemon’”.
Moscow has long said it was leading a struggle against the United States’ dominance on the international stage, and argues the Ukraine offensive is part of that fight.
The Kremlin this week said it had no choice but to continue its more than year-long offensive in Ukraine, seeing no diplomatic solution.
“Any negotiation needs to be based on taking into account Russian interests, Russian concerns,” Lavrov said.
“It should be about the principles on which the new world order will be based.”
Lavrov also threatened to abandon a landmark grain deal, which Turkey helped to broker, if obstacles to Russian exports remain.
The beginning of the offensive brought fears of a global food crisis as Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of grain and other agricultural products.
Lavrov, however, said Russia may pull out of the landmark deal that allowed vital exports to leave blocked ports in the Black Sea.
“If there is no further progress in removing barriers to the export of Russian fertilisers and grain, we will think about whether this deal is necessary,” he said.
On the eve of the visit, Moscow said it extended the agreement “as a gesture of goodwill for another 60 days”.
Russia has repeatedly threatened to abandon the agreement that has allowed the export of more than 25 million tonnes of grain.
Moscow has been complaining that its side of the agreement, promising the right to export fertiliser free from Western sanctions, is not respected.
Turkey is pushing for a 120-day extension in compliance with the original agreement, which was negotiated by Ankara and the United Nations last July.
