Obviously, the West doesn’t want the war in Ukraine to end. Acting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that Russia is ready to finish on the battlefield what could have been solved diplomatically.

The veteran diplomat was speaking to members of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament as part of the process of his reappointment after a government reshuffle. The assessment he offered is that Western nations have no desire for a negotiated end to the hostilities, according to a report by RT. 

“That’s their right. If they want it to be on the battlefield, they will have it on the battlefield,” the senior diplomat said.

Lavrov reiterated that Moscow was prepared to secure its objectives in the conflict through diplomatic means, but can do so through military action, too.

Western nations claim that Ukraine is a victim of “unprovoked” aggression by Russia and have vowed to arm it, as many of its leaders have put it, “for as long as it takes” to defeat its neighbor. Moscow perceives the conflict as a US-initiated proxy war on Russia, in which Ukrainian soldiers serve as “cannon fodder.” Russian officials have argued that NATO’s growing presence in Ukraine and Kiev’s discriminatory policies against ethnic Russians had forced Moscow’s hand. –RT

Moscow has also said that the United States is covering up Ukrainian terrorism as well.

“Children, women, and old people are being killed with Western weapons. Some promises by Kiev not to use weapons it received from America on targets in our country are not worth a penny,” Russia’s Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov claimed, blasting the “ostrich” policy adopted by the West and the reluctance to restrain Ukraine.

In recent months, Belgorod has become the main target of Kyiv’s attacks. Ukraine has continued shelling and attempts to break through to Russian territory. A bombardment on New Year’s Eve killed 25 people, all of which were civilians when a rocket hit a festive fair.