Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow’s position on the war in Ukraine remained unchanged, criticising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s statements about continuing attacks on Russian targets as unhelpful to preparations for renewed peace negotiations.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta, Lavrov said he did not know what Ukraine intended to bring to the negotiating table and questioned whether Kyiv’s public statements were conducive to diplomatic progress.
“Our position is known, but what Ukraine intends to bring to the negotiating table, I don’t know,” Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
He said Zelensky’s repeated comments about Ukraine acquiring additional weapons to strike Russian targets were making preparations for further negotiations more difficult.
“This kind of attitude doesn’t really help much in preparing for negotiations,” Lavrov said.
The comments came as Russia and Ukraine have both expressed willingness to resume trilateral negotiations involving the United States, which would be the first such talks since early in the year.
Zelensky said this week that he hoped a meeting involving peace negotiators from the three countries could take place in Abu Dhabi between 6 and 10 November. He also said Ukraine wanted European countries to participate in discussions on ending the war.
Lavrov said Moscow’s position on the conflict had not changed since the beginning of what Russia officially calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine. He maintained that Russia could not accept Ukraine becoming a military threat to what he described as the Russian Federation’s legitimate security interests.
The Russian foreign minister also criticised the state of relations between Moscow and Washington, arguing that fundamental disagreements remained unresolved despite the current US administration’s involvement in efforts surrounding the conflict.
“Fundamental issues are not being resolved. Sanctions remain, all the sanctions from (former President Joe) Biden are echoed by the current administration,” he said.
Lavrov also accused Washington of increasing intelligence-sharing cooperation with Ukraine while continuing to provide military assistance to Kyiv. He referred to a US State Department announcement on Friday approving the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine.
The comments highlighted the continuing differences between Moscow and Washington over sanctions and military support for Ukraine, despite discussions about resuming diplomatic negotiations.
Meanwhile, the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta was marked by objections to Lavrov’s presence. Foreign ministers skipped the group’s traditional official photograph, with some making clear that they did not wish to appear alongside the Russian foreign minister.
The diplomatic tensions emerged as both Moscow and Kyiv signalled openness to another round of trilateral discussions, although the proposed Abu Dhabi meeting remained dependent on further negotiations and arrangements among the parties.
