Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday that the Kremlin is ready to reach a deal with the U.S. regarding Ukraine, though he acknowledged that certain aspects still require adjustments.
“The President of the United States believes, and I think rightly so, that we are moving in the right direction,” Lavrov remarked during a Thursday interview with CBS “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” He also credited Trump with being “probably the only leader on earth who recognized the need to address the root causes of the [Ukraine] situation.”
Asked if the two countries had reached a deal, Lavrov responded, “We are really polite people, and unlike some others, we never discuss in public what’s been discussed in negotiations—otherwise negotiations are not serious.”
“We consider serious proposals, we make serious proposals, and this is a process which is not supposed to be public until the end of it,” the Russian veteran diplomat said.
The fact that a high-ranking Russian government official is giving an interview to American mainstream media could in itself be viewed as a breakthrough. In February of last year, independent American journalist Tucker Carlson was widely condemned by fellow journalists for airing an unedited, uncut interview with President Vladimir Putin, done on site in Moscow. Other media outlets had requested to interview the Russian president but had their requests declined because the Kremlin saw them as biased and telling one-sided stories.
