Lavrov Accuses West of Hindering Peace Efforts in Ukraine Conflict

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western nations on Sunday of attempting to obstruct peace negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict in Ukraine, following a recent uptick in diplomatic efforts that seemed to have come to a standstill.

U.S. President Donald Trump has been advocating for a direct meeting between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia, yet both parties have blamed one another for hindering progress toward such discussions.

“They’re merely seeking an excuse to halt negotiations,” Lavrov stated in a Sunday interview broadcast on the state-run TV channel Rossiya through Telegram.

He criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for “stubbornly insisting, attaching conditions, and demanding an urgent meeting at any cost” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Additionally, Lavrov accused the Ukrainian government of “trying to derail the process established by Presidents Putin and Trump, which has shown promising results.”

“We hope these efforts will be thwarted,” he remarked.

On Friday, Lavrov confirmed that “no meeting” was scheduled between Zelensky and Putin.

Earlier in the week, Zelensky indicated that Russia was “trying to evade holding a meeting.”

While Zelensky has expressed a willingness to engage with Putin, he insists that his allies must first agree on security guarantees for Ukraine to prevent future Russian aggression once hostilities cease.

Moscow, on the other hand, stated that discussions regarding these guarantees cannot take place without them, asserting that the presence of European troops in Ukraine would be “totally unacceptable.”