Sergey Lavrov declares that Russia will not suspend the war in Ukraine, despite the proposal for an energy moratorium

Russia does not intend to halt the war in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday during a meeting of the UN Security Council. The statement came a day after Ukraine and the United States raised the possibility of a moratorium on attacks against energy infrastructure.

“We will not pause our special military operation,” Lavrov said, using the term by which the Kremlin describes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Russian minister claimed that Europe was trying to secure a pause in order to acquire weapons.

The statement represents Moscow’s public position amid discussions on reducing attacks against energy facilities. On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was prepared to accept such a moratorium, provided that Russia did the same.

That same day, US President Donald Trump said in a speech delivered at the UN General Assembly that an agreement between Ukraine and Russia could be reached sooner than expected. Lavrov’s position, however, indicates that Moscow is not prepared, at least for now, to announce a suspension of military operations.