Russia rejects security guarantees for Ukraine, sets condition for Putin-Zelenskyy meeting
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Thu, 21 Aug 2025 18:32:00 +0300

He made the remarks at a press conference following talks with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, according to TASS.“As discussions between the West and the Ukrainian side show, all these plans essentially involve providing guarantees through foreign military intervention on some part of Ukrainian territory. And I very much hope that those who conceive such plans understand that this would be completely unacceptable for the Russian Federation and for all reasonable political forces in Europe,” the diplomat said.In his view, U.S. and Russian leaders Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin made progress during the Alaska summit, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European politicians are allegedly undermining this progress.“Now, after the Russia-U.S. summit in Alaska, where significant progress was made in advancing by defining outlines and concrete parameters for a settlement, European countries followed Mr. Zelenskyy to Washington and there tried to push their agenda aimed at shaping security guarantees according to the logic of isolating Russia… Of course, this can elicit nothing from us except total rejection,” Lavrov said.Commenting on the possibility of a personal meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, the minister said that all issues requiring discussion by the leaders must first be worked out at lower levels. Lavrov also reiterated the Kremlin narrative that the legitimacy of the person signing a peace agreement must be resolved.“Our president (Vladimir Putin) has repeatedly said that he is ready to meet, including with Zelenskyy, provided that all issues requiring consideration at the highest level are thoroughly worked out and that experts and ministers prepare the appropriate recommendations. And, of course, with the understanding that when, and if, it comes to signing future agreements, the question of the legitimacy of the person signing these agreements on the Ukrainian side will be resolved,” Lavrov said.The Kremlin demands veto power over any security guarantees for Ukraine, seeking to undermine joint efforts by the United States, Europe, and Kyiv to establish conditions for lasting peace.
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