Lavrov: the West must recognise that Russia holds strategic initiative in Ukraine

Dec 29 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview published late on Monday, said the West must understand that Russia holds the strategic initiative in Ukraine as discussions move forward on a possible settlement.

Lavrov told RIA news agency that the West had to come to terms with the territorial realities on the ground nearly four years after the launch of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, which it describes as a "Special Military Operation".

He said the United States now supported the notion, which had become clear to all, that with the expiry of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's mandate, a new election was needed.

Lavrov also again stressed that a settlement required an end to any notion of a NATO presence in Ukraine and that the country had to adopt a neutral, non-aligned status.

(Reporting by Reuters, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)