Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday said it had to be part of any discussion on security guarantees for Ukraine and downplayed the likelihood of an imminent summit with President Volodymyr Zelensky, tempering hopes for a quick peace deal. Lavrov said that Moscow must be included in any talks on Ukraine’s security guarantees, dismissing European diplomacy as “aggressive escalation” and a “clumsy effort to sway Trump”. “To discuss security guarantees seriously without Russia is a road to nowhere,” Lavrov said. Lavrov also said that China, Russia’s ally in the war, should be among Ukraine’s security guarantors – reviving a proposal first put forward by Russian negotiators during talks in Turkey in spring 2022.
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00:00We begin today with the latest in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
00:03Moscow has drawn yet another hard line declaring that it must be part of any international talks on Ukraine security.
00:11Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, on Wednesday insisted that discussing security guarantees seriously without Russia is, in his words, a road to nowhere.
00:23We cannot agree with the fact that it is now proposed to resolve collective security issues without Russia.
00:30This will not work.
00:30We have already explained more than once that Russia does not exaggerate its interests, but we will ensure our legitimate interests firmly and harshly.
00:39And I am sure that the West, and above all the United States, understands perfectly well that seriously discussing security issues without the Russian Federation is a utopia.
00:50This is a road to nowhere.
00:51Now, Lavrov dismissed European diplomacy as an aggressive escalation as well as a clumsy effort to sway President Donald Trump.
01:02He also said that China, Russia's closest ally in the war, should also be among Ukraine's guarantors, reviving a proposal first floated in Turkey back in 2022.
01:14What diplomatic steps have you noticed in the European Union?
01:20Before evaluating them, they need to be seen.
01:24So far, we see only a fairly aggressive escalation of the situation, rather clumsy and unethical attempts to change the position of the Trump administration and the U.S. president personally.
01:36Now, the comments come just days after President Donald Trump welcomed his Ukrainian counterpart, President Volodymyr Zelensky, and a group of European leaders to the White House.
01:50President Trump has cast himself as a dealmaker, attempting to steer both sides towards settlements more than three years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
01:59But for now, the path to dialogue is riddled with challenges.
02:02On Thursday, President Zelensky signaled he's open to meeting Putin, but only after Ukraine secures firm security guarantees.
02:10He said his country wants a clear architecture of security guarantees within the next seven to ten days.
02:16Based on that, he envisions a trilateral meeting involving President Trump.
02:20Zelensky even suggested venues such as Switzerland, Austria, and Turkey, countries he described as acceptable and neutral,
02:28enough to host such critical talks.
02:31He made it clear also that he doesn't want China playing a role in guaranteeing Ukraine's security while citing Beijing's alleged support for Moscow.
02:40Now, Lavrov, meanwhile, avoided any direct mention of a potential Putin-Selensky summit,
02:45but did stress that any such encounter would need to be prepared with meticulous care.
02:50The main thing is that any formats, one plus one, one plus two, multilateral formats, of which there are also many, including within the UN.
03:05All these formats are included not so that someone writes in the newspapers the next morning or shows it on TV in the evening
03:12or gossips on social networks trying to skim off the propaganda foam,
03:17but so that step by step, gradually, starting from the expert level and then going through all the necessary stages,
03:26summits are prepared.
03:27Now, Trump announced this week that he'd begun the arrangements for the first meeting between the two leaders
03:37since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
03:40Meanwhile, European leaders are exploring what post-conflict security guarantees for Ukraine might look like,
03:46even as Russian officials warn that NATO troops on Ukrainian soil would cross a red line.
03:52On Wednesday, the NATO military committee convened a virtual meeting,
03:56and the alliance stressed its support for what it called a just, credible, and durable peace.
04:02Now, as talks happen, fighting continues on the ground.
04:04In fact, on Thursday, Zelensky said Russian forces are building up troops along the southern front line,
04:10which Moscow claims as its own.
04:12Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight killed at least one,
04:16and as of now, the divide remains clear.
04:18However, Trump is pressing for a dialogue.
04:21Europe is sketching out guarantees,
04:23and Russia is stalling in setting conditions.
04:26Now, whether the next handshake will be a step towards peace remains an open question.
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