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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