U.S. efforts at negotiating peace in Ukraine may be advancing after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday that he is ready to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Lavrov emphasized, however, that peace in Ukraine depends on Russia’s interests being considered.
According to news reports, Washington postponed a planned Budapest Summit, where President Trump was expected to meet with President Putin of Russia, after Lavrov signaled that Moscow was not ready to back away from its demands. The Financial Times cited a source saying Lavrov’s talk with Rubio had made Washington conclude a meeting at that time would have been fruitless.
Referring back to the August 15 meeting between the two presidents in Anchorage, Alaska, Lavrov said in an interview with state news agency RIA Novosti on Sunday that Russia was “awaiting confirmation from the United States that the “understandings on Ukraine” reached there “remain in effect.”
I would emphasize that, despite their essentially compromise nature, we have not abandoned—and do not intend to abandon—the points that are fundamental for us. The American side is well aware of this.
Those points, he said, include “the choice made [in referendums] by the residents of Crimea, Donbass, and Novorossiya” to belong to Russia—not Ukraine—and “the need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict.” Those root causes, Moscow has previously stated, include the perceived threat to Russia’s national security arising through NATO expansion and the oppression of Russian-speaking populations in Ukraine.
According to Lavrov, the U.S. in August assured Moscow that President Zelensky of Ukraine was open to a negotiated peace but that “certain difficulties have arisen in this regard.” Pointing fingers at Brussels and London, the Russian FM also said European powers are trying to convince Washington “to abandon its intention to resolve the crisis through political and diplomatic means” and “join the ‘party of war.’”
Asked about the EU’s plans to use frozen Russian funds to provide a loan to Ukraine, Lavrov dismissed the idea that Ukraine would ever be able to repay such a loan. “There are few within the European Union who are eager to blindly take such steps, which also entail serious reputational risks for the euro zone as a territory of economic activity,” he said. “We hope that Brussels and other Western capitals will still come to their senses and abandon this ill-advised venture.”
The absence of in-person meetings does not mean talks between Moscow and Washington have ceased.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio and I understand the need for regular communication,” Lavrov said. “It is important for discussing the Ukrainian issue and promoting the bilateral agenda. That is why we communicate by telephone and are ready to hold face-to-face meetings when necessary.”
Western media has speculated about a schism between Lavrov and Putin after the postponed presidential summit, a rumor the Kremlin has dismissed.
As for when a meeting with his U.S. counterpart could happen, Lavrov said there remain “many irritants” in the relations between the two countries, “most of them inherited from the previous U.S. administration. It will take considerable time to clear up this mess.”
