The Italian peace plan for Ukraine is “not serious,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday. Italy’s four-stage plan would feature a ceasefire, talks on Ukraine’s ‘international status,’ i.e., whether it is neutral, a bilateral agreement between Kyiv and Moscow on the contested areas of Crimea and Donbas, and a multilateral agreement on peace and security in Europe.
“Serious politicians who want to achieve results and are not engaged in self-promotion for their electorate cannot propose this kind of thing,” Lavrov told Russia Today. Lavrov reiterated that Italy has not sent the plan to Moscow but “what appears in the media provokes a feeling of sorrow.” He appeared to be referring to the idea of the Donbas and Crimea being under Ukrainian sovereignty with an autonomous status, Moscow watchers said.
