In his speech, Lavrov repeated Moscow’s long-standing accusations of systematic language discrimination and “Russophobia” by Ukraine’s leadership. These claims have served as a central justification for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
The demand for language rights is part of a series of maximalist conditions that Russia repeatedly sets as preconditions for negotiations. Ukraine and its Western allies reject the accusations of discrimination and point to the current Ukrainian language law, which still allows the use of Russian in many areas of daily life.
Source: www.kyivpost.com
