Lavrov: All that the West is doing is searching for excuses to disrupt negotiations with Ukraine

SadaNews - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Western countries today, Sunday, of seeking to "disrupt" negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, at a time when diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict have reached a dead end.

US President Donald Trump had called for a bilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but they exchanged accusations of unwillingness to do so.

Lavrov said in an interview broadcasted by the Russian public channel: "All they are doing is looking for excuses to disrupt the negotiations," denouncing the stance of Ukrainian President Zelensky, who is "stubborn and setting conditions and demanding an immediate meeting at any cost" with his Russian counterpart.

Lavrov also accused the Ukrainian authorities of "seeking to disrupt a process established by Presidents Putin and Trump that yielded very good results." He added, "We hope that these attempts will be thwarted." Lavrov had stated on Friday that there are no plans for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.

Earlier this week, Zelensky accused Russia of seeking "to evade holding a meeting." Zelensky expressed his desire to meet with Putin, but not before his allies agree on security guarantees for Ukraine to prevent any future Russian attacks once fighting stops.

Moscow has stated that guarantees cannot be discussed without its participation, considering that any presence of European forces in Ukraine would be "completely unacceptable."