Russia’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, has attacked Sir Keir Starmer and Ukraine’s other allies across the world, accusing them of trying to undermine the “progress” made between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week. Mr Lavrov said the group, the “so-called coalition of the willing,” are “trying to shift the focus away from resolving the root causes” of the war, which has now been ongoing for over three years.
“I hope such European adventurism fails,” he added. The coalition of the willing was set up by the UK and France earlier this year and consists of 31 countries that have pledged strengthened support for Ukraine against Russian aggression. The peacekeeping force is envisaged only to be deployed the moment Ukraine and Russia sign a comprehensive ceasefire agreement or peace deal to settle the conflict. The Russian foreign minister, however, has also described attempts to discuss the post-war security guarantees for Ukraine, which have departed from those set out by Russia in talks in Istanbul back in 2022, as “hopeless”. Mr Lavrov also took aim at Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Regarding a possible meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin – confirmed by US President Donald Trump earlier this week – Mr Lavrov said that the Russian president has “said repeatedly he is ready to meet”.
However, he added that when it comes to “signing something”, issues remain with what he described as “issues of legitimacy” surrounding the Ukrainian leadership. These, Mr Putin’s closest ally said, “will have to be resolved” before a meeting can take place.
President Zelensky’s term was initially scheduled to end in 2024. However, he said that Ukraine’s constitution prevents him from holding elections while the country is under martial law. He also warned against an election due to fears over Russian interference.
The Kremlin has often suggested that Mr Zelensky’s “illegitimacy” as president could prevent a face-to-face meeting with the Russian president.
These comments come just days after Donald Trump hosted Mr Zelensky and several other European and NATO leaders in Washington DC for a crunch meeting on peace talks and to put on a united front against Russia. Among those present were Sir Keir Starmer, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Donald Trump then interrupted this crunch meeting to take a call with Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin said a 40-minute phone call was described by the Russian dictator as “frank” and only “fairly constructive”. According to German news outlet Bild, he took the call in a different part of the White House from where he was meeting the leaders.