Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a joint news conference with India’s Foreign Minister (not seen in the picture) in Moscow on August 21, 2025.
Alexander Zemlianichenko / AFP
“No meeting between Zelensky and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is planned,” Sergei Lavrov said.
On Sunday, August 24th, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western countries of trying to block peace negotiations to end the Ukraine conflict.
“They’re just looking for a pretext to block negotiations,” Lavrov said in an interview with state TV station Rossiya aired on Telegram. He slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for “obstinately insisting, setting conditions, demanding an immediate meeting at all costs” with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Lavrov also accused Ukrainian authorities of “attempts to disrupt the process that was laid down by Presidents Putin and Trump, which has yielded very good results.”
Earlier this week, Zelensky for his part said Russia was “trying to wriggle out of holding a meeting.” Zelensky has signaled willingness to meet with Putin, but only after his allies agree on security guarantees for Ukraine to deter future Russian attacks once the fighting stops.
Moscow said there could be no discussion about such guarantees without Russia, and said any presence of European troops in Ukraine would be “absolutely unacceptable.”
Lukács Fux is currently a law student at Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Budapest. He served as an intern during the Hungarian Council Presidency and completed a separate internship in the European Parliament.
