Russia is lying at UN Security Council to halt international support for Ukraine — ISW

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) shared the information in its report.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke at a meeting of the UN Security Council convened by Russia on January 22 and accused the West of the lack of negotiations, saying that Russia had allegedly always been ready for them.

However, Lavrov clarified that Russia is only interested in negotiations that will lead to the removal of the current Ukrainian government from power, confirming that Russia is still officially seeking regime change in Ukraine. 

The Russian minister also continued to deny Ukraine's independence and sovereignty, lying that the Ukrainian people are not interested in a war against Russia and that the West is pushing Ukrainians to continue the war.

Lavrov advised the West to understand that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's peace formula is a "path to nowhere," claiming that "sooner [the West] realizes this, the better it will be for both Ukraine and the West."

During the UN Security Council meeting, the Russian Foreign Minister also claimed that "if Ukraine stops fighting, hundreds of thousands." ISW notes that he has voiced similar messages in the past, implying that Russia will be able to occupy more territory during the war and that this will further weaken Ukraine's negotiating position.

Also during the meeting, Lavrov denied that the Kremlin was responsible for fears that Russia might attack NATO in the future, ignoring recent alarming official statements from Moscow.

In addition, he accused Ukrainian forces of conducting strikes on Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine, which the Kremlin used to support Russia's justification for the war to conquer the country.

Lavrov also tried to downplay the various war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian occupying forces and the puppet administration in Ukraine, claiming that Ukrainians and Russians "live in peace and harmony" in occupied Crimea and other Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.

He also stated that "Russians and Ukrainians will live exactly like brothers and good neighbors" after Russia achieves its goals in the war in Ukraine - which, according to the institute, are tantamount to the complete surrender of Ukraine and the West.

Experts are convinced that the Kremlin used the UN Security Council meeting to promote its own information operations.

"Lavrov’s use of this meeting to promote various Kremlin information operations is likely an attempt to legitimize these Kremlin narratives, promote them on a global stage, and convince Ukraine’s international partners to stop sending weapons to Ukraine," the ISW report concludes.

• Earlier, Sergey Lavrov was promoting a fake narrative about "Nazi laws" that are allegedly being adopted in Ukraine.