Russia today accused the West of seeking a ceasefire in Ukraine to buy time to rearm Kyiv, whose forces are facing serious difficulties on the front lines against the Russian army.

In Western countries “they started talking about a ceasefire as a means to offer a respite to Ukraine and seize the opportunity to flood it again with modern long-range weapons,” the foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, welcoming his Hungarian counterpart Peter Siyarto in Moscow.

“This is certainly not the way to peace,” he added.

Speculation about a possible start of a peace process between Moscow and Kyiv has multiplied since the election, to the US presidency, of Donald Trump, who has said that once in office in January he will end the war “within 24 hours”, without ever explaining how that will happen.

“We are ready to negotiate,” Lavrov assured, adding that Moscow would like possible negotiations with Kyiv and the West “to be conducted taking into account the legitimate interests of each side.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has set out his conditions from the outset for silencing the guns: that the Ukrainian army surrender, that Ukraine pledges not to join NATO, and that Russia keeps the Ukrainian territory it has occupied, which is over 18% of the country.

These conditions are considered unacceptable by the West and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been calling for many months for a “just peace” that would ensure “the survival” of his country.