Negotiations between Russia and the United States on Ukraine have taken a serious turn after a statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Bloomberg reported, citing a European source familiar with the situation.
Lavrov said on Thursday that Moscow would not agree to the deployment of Western military forces in Ukraine as part of possible guarantees for Kiev's security. He added that a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky is possible only after "good preparation" and resolving the issue of the "legitimacy" of the Ukrainian president.
According to Bloomberg sources in European diplomatic circles, these comments were perceived as an attempt to slow down the process. They emphasize that there are currently no signs that the Kremlin is ready for a real deal.
The agency also notes that Moscow may try to convince US President Donald Trump to back down from his insistence on specific guarantees for Ukraine's security and lower the level of the upcoming negotiations with Kiev. The White House insists that the talks should be held at the presidential level, while the Kremlin is looking for a more flexible format to avoid new sanctions from Washington.
We recall that US President Donald Trump said that within two weeks it would become clear whether there was a real chance for a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
The statement comes days after a new round of talks in Washington, where the US side discussed with President Zelensky and European leaders the parameters of a possible agreement to end the conflict. It followed Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where the two spoke behind closed doors. Although details were not disclosed, footage of the meeting sparked comments about its similarity to the famous debates between Nikita Khrushchev and Richard Nixon in 1959.