Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow will not agree to halt fighting along the current front line as a precondition for peace negotiations with Ukraine, arguing that Russia had already been “deceived” once during failed talks in 2022. Speaking at the Primakov Readings international forum on Wednesday, Lavrov said Russia remained open to negotiations but insisted any talks must involve what he called “sensible proposals” and “reasonable people” on the Ukrainian side.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “We will not take anyone at their word,” Lavrov said. He dismissed calls for a ceasefire along the current line of contact before negotiations begin, saying Moscow had tried a similar approach during the Istanbul talks in the early months of the war. According to Lavrov, Russia halted military operations and withdrew forces from areas near Kyiv as a “gesture of goodwill,” only to see the negotiations collapse. “Then we got [then-UK Prime Minister Boris] Johnson and Bucha,” Lavrov said, referring to what he claimed was Western interference following Russia’s withdrawal from the Kyiv region and the discovery of mass civilian killings in Bucha, which Moscow claims was a “staged provocation”. As part of a potential peace agreement, Kyiv has repeatedly proposed freezing the conflict along current front lines. Russian President Vladimir Putin has instead insisted that any settlement would require Ukraine to surrender the entire Donetsk region, including areas Russian forces have failed to seize despite more than a decade of fighting.