MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Western nations of attempting to obstruct peace negotiations aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict.
Lavrov made these remarks during a Sunday interview with state television channel Rossiya that was subsequently broadcast on Telegram.
“They’re just looking for a pretext to block negotiations,“ Lavrov said in his televised comments.
He criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for what he described as unreasonable demands regarding potential talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Lavrov also alleged that Ukrainian authorities were actively working to undermine the diplomatic process established by both Putin and US President Donald Trump.
“We hope that these attempts will be thwarted,“ he added while discussing the negotiation efforts.
The Russian foreign minister confirmed on Friday that no meeting between Zelensky and Putin was currently scheduled.
Zelensky had previously accused Russia of trying to avoid holding such a meeting earlier this week.
The Ukrainian president has expressed willingness to meet with Putin but only after receiving security guarantees from allies against future Russian aggression.
Moscow has declared that any discussion about security guarantees must include Russian participation and has called European military presence in Ukraine completely unacceptable. – AFP
