Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was ready to continue dialogue with Washington on Ukraine. Lavrov said Russia welcomed the US administration’s consideration of realities on the ground in its contacts.
Lavrov made the remarks regarding a meeting held in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump’s representatives, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Lavrov said part of the meeting was broadcast on television and that Putin’s aide, Yuri Ushakov, later provided a detailed assessment of the talks.
Lavrov did not provide further details on what Witkoff and Kushner brought to Moscow or later took to Kyiv. He said the US side had not made any statement on its subsequent diplomatic steps and noted that there was various speculation on the matter.
Lavrov also commented on a statement by the Élysée Palace that direct talks would resume after Russia’s State Duma elections, with US participation. Leaving responsibility for those statements to the Élysée Palace, Lavrov argued that he had previously encountered conduct he considered unethical regarding the content of telephone calls and other contacts.
Washington’s approach to Ukraine
Lavrov said the dialogue between Moscow and Washington was based on the approach to Ukraine put forward by Donald Trump after his return to the White House. He said one of the key elements of this approach was abandoning efforts to bring Ukraine into NATO.
According to Lavrov, the second element was the “recognition of realities on the ground.” The Russian foreign minister argued that the phrase was not limited solely to the territorial issue, but also encompassed the populations of Crimea and the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as well as the results of referendums held in those areas.
Lavrov said they believed the US administration had taken these elements into account, particularly in its meetings with Vladimir Putin. He described Washington’s effort to be constructive around these core issues as an approach that should be supported.
