Lavrov: 'Ready to guarantee that we will not attack NATO' Parolin: for peace also involve China
Ukrainian President Zelensky admitted that Russian forces have set foot in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, which Moscow has been trying to conquer for over a year
Russia has no intention of attacking a NATO country, and is ready to make such a commitment in an agreement on security guarantees, Russia's Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov said, quoted by Tass. "We hope," the Moscow diplomatic chief added, specifying the latest development in the ongoing confrontation to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, "that President Trump will sincerely continue to seek a solution to the Ukrainian crisis and maintain the commitment to those principles that were worked out at the Anchorage summit, and which were developed on the basis of American proposals.
"We have said many times that we have not and never intended to attack any country among the current members of NATO and the European Union, we are ready to formalise this position in the future security guarantees for this part of Eurasia," Lavrov said in a speech at the International Eurasian Security Conference in Minsk. But the Russian foreign minister added that "the leaders of the European Union avoid considering these future guarantees on a truly collective basis, proudly declaring that after the Ukrainian crisis there must be security guarantees not with Russia's participation, but against Russia."
Von der Leyen, proposal to use Russian assets legally valid
In the meantime, the idea of a reparation loan to Ukraine with Russian assets tied up is back on the agenda. "It is a legally sound proposal, not a trivial one, but a sound one. Now, the European Council has asked for possible options for the technical issues we have outstanding, so we will adopt them. The underlying message is very clear to Russia: we are ready to cover Ukraine's financial needs, so we will be at its side for as long as necessary," announced EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, when asked about the possibility that after the brake from the EU summit the alternative might be to proceed with joint debt.
Trump to host leaders of 5 former Soviet countries
Donald Trump will meet with the presidents of five Central Asian countries next week at the White House, informed sources tell Reuters. The meeting with the leaders of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan is scheduled for 6 November and can also be read as a further snub to Vladimir Putin. At the centre of the talks is the exploitation of the natural resources in which the five countries are rich.
Media: Orban wants anti-Kiev bloc with Bratislava and Prague
Yet another anti-EU stance by Viktor Orban is also worth noting. In an interview relaunched on his account this morning, the Hungarian leader referred to the axis with Slovakian Robert Fico and the Czech premier in pectore to confirm that Budapest is working on an anti-Ukraine axis with Bratislava and Prague, after nationalist Andrej Babis won the elections in the Czech Republic. "I think it will happen, and it will be more and more evident," Balasz Orban, political advisor to the Hungarian premier, told Politico. "In central Europe, the pacifist front is growing. As the economic difficulties in Europe worsen, more and more nations will realise that peace is the only way," he said.
