MOSCOW: Moscow can see only "unethical efforts" by Brussels to push Washington into changing its position on resolving the Ukrai...
MOSCOW: Moscow can see only "unethical efforts" by Brussels to push Washington into changing its position on resolving the Ukraine conflict, as European leaders failed to propose any constructive initiatives at a recent White House meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference.
When asked to comment on US President Donald Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Zelensky and several European leaders earlier in the week, Lavrov responded: "What diplomatic steps did you see the European Union take? Before assessing such steps, we need to see them. So far, we have only witnessed aggressive efforts to raise tensions, along with rather awkward and, in fact, unethical attempts to pressure the Trump administration and the US president personally to change their position, as we saw when Europeans accompanied Mr. Zelensky to Washington on Monday." He added: "We did not hear the Europeans put forward any constructive ideas there."
Speaking about the US president and his team, Lavrov noted that "they have really been doing diplomacy with regard to Ukraine for several weeks — actually, since their arrival to the White House." "This means a search for mutually acceptable agreements that would address the root causes of the crisis <...> and guarantee that the conflict will not resume," he explained.
"As for the Europeans, they are only trying — even though with less and less success — to make sure that the United States remains a participant in the process and at least provides weapons so that Europe can continue to supply the Kiev regime with those arms," Lavrov added.
Russia-US summit and Trump’s meeting with Zelensky, EU leaders
President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Donald Trump of the United States held a meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska on August 15. The meeting lasted about three hours, including a one-on-one in the US leader’s limo on the way to the summit’s venue and a closed-door event that also involved two delegation members on each side: Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov represented Russia, while Secretary of State and Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff represented the US. Addressing the media after the talks, Putin said that the Ukraine conflict had topped the summit’s agenda.
On August 18, Trump hosted Vladimir Zelensky and European leaders in Washington. The talks involved French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
During the meeting, Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the prospects for his meeting with Zelensky and later trilateral talks. According to Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov, the two leaders spoke in favor of the continuation of direct talks between Moscow and Kiev and discussed the possibility of raising the level of delegations.
-News Feed
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