Moscow (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised US President Donald Trump on Saturday, so he said he was a better understanding than any other western leader about the conflict in Ukraine.
“When we talk about eliminating the deep causes of any conflict, including the Ukrainian conflict, this is the only way to solve the problem and establish a lasting peace. Remove the deep causes,” Lavrov said at the Antália Diplomacy Forum in southern Turkey.
“President Trump was the first, and so far I believe, almost the only one among Western leaders who, repeatedly and convincedly, said it was a huge mistake to drag Ukraine to NATO. And this is one of the deep causes we quoted so many times.”
President Vladimir Putin, who launched Ukraine’s invasion of Russia in February 2022, has long considered Ukraine to the West, including his desire to join NATO, a threat to Russia.
Lavrov’s comments took place after conversations in St. Petersburg on Friday between Putin and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff about the search for a peace agreement.
Witkoff emerged as a key figure in the intermittent rapprochement between Moscow and Washington. However, Friday’s negotiations occurred at a time when the US and Russian dialogue, aiming at a ceasefire before a possible peace agreement, seems to have stagnant due to divergences on conditions for a total break in hostilities.
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Commenting on an agreement between Ukraine and Russia to suspend attacks on each other’s energy facilities, Lavrov said Moscow has kept his word and accused Kiev of attacking Russian energy infrastructure almost every day.
“I gave our pairs of Turkey, to the minister (Foreign Affairs) (Hakan) Fidan, what we gave to the Americans, the UN, OSCE-the list of facts that list Ukraine attacks for the last three weeks against Russian energy infrastructure.”
Ukraine has made similar accusations against Russia since the moratorium supported by the US was approved.
