Ukraine and Russia have exchanged 314 prisoners of war, after a new round of “constructive” negotiations in the United Arab Emirates. For now, it is the only tangible thing that comes out of the , when we are already on the verge of the fourth anniversary of the conflict. The promise of seeing each other again is kept, but the world remains in suspense over the concessions that each other can make, while Moscow’s attacks intensify and millions of Ukrainians are left without light and heat in the middle of winter.
In the midst of this uncertainty, any statement matters and is looked at with a magnifying glass. Even more so if they add more fuel to the fire. In recent hours, those of the Russian Foreign Minister, who has attacked the American president, who is precisely the promoter of the peace process, have drawn particular attention.
He accuses him of continuing with “Bidenism”, that is, with the line of the previous North American president, the Democrat, who was always on kyiv’s side and that, he remembers, is the opposite of what he had agreed with the Russian president, in August 2025.
Lavrov cited, above all, those of the United States against Russia, initiated under the Biden Administration, which include the freezing of its gold reserves and juicy currencies. Now, they do not like the addition of new ones imposed under the Trump government against, the two largest oil producers in the Federation.
“This is pure Bidenism, which Trump and his team reject. However, they calmly extended the law and the sanctions against Russia remain in force,” Lavrov denounced in an interview published on Monday morning, originally in Russian, and noted that the sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil came “a couple of weeks after a very good meeting between Putin and Trump.”
“On the one hand, they tell us that the Ukrainian problem must be resolved. In Anchorage, we accepted the American proposal. If it had been addressed directly, person to person, they proposed it and we accepted it, the problem should have been resolved,” Lavrov continued.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a meeting with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis in Moscow on February 6, 2026.
The sanctions-hit economy, which relies heavily on oil and gas revenues, is juggling rampant inflation and high interest rates. It has been largely propped up by China’s huge oil purchases.
The Trump Administration has used a combination of economic potential and financial pressure to convince Russia to make peace in Ukraine, promoting potential investments and imposing sanctions. Economic cooperation with the US is one of the carrots that are offered to Russia.
A forceful anger
Talks are progressing slowly and there appears to be significant movement, although the sides are far apart on the central issue of territorial control of Ukraine’s eastern region, which Russia demands kyiv cede completely.
The U.S. still controls about a fifth of Donbas, which includes the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, and intense fighting is taking place. kyiv refuses to relinquish control, citing constitutional and moral objections, although it has floated the idea of a ceasefire to allow for a referendum, a truce that Russia rejects, stating that Ukrainian forces will take advantage of the pause to regroup and rearm.
Lavrov said in his same interview that Moscow does not care what Ukraine or European nations think about the negotiations, but rather “what matters to us is the position of the United States.” “And after accepting their proposals [en Anchorage]it seems that we have accomplished the task of resolving the Ukrainian issue and moving towards large-scale, comprehensive and mutually beneficial cooperation,” Lavrov said.
“But in practice, everything seems the other way around: new sanctions are imposed; a war is waged against oil tankers, as is known, on the high seas, violating the Convention on the Law of the Sea; India and other partners are pressured to stop purchasing affordable Russian energy resources,” he denounces. He said the United States has “essentially declared a goal of economic domination” through “a large number of coercive measures that do not fit within the framework of fair competition,” such as tariffs.
In one such example, Trump imposed punitive secondary tariffs on India for its purchases of Russian oil during the Ukraine war. He has subsequently declared that India will now buy oil from Venezuela, depriving Moscow of an important source of demand.
Zelensky’s vision
Ukrainian President Zelensky, for his part, declared yesterday Sunday that the US has given Ukraine and Russia a deadline of June to reach a peace agreement. If the June deadline is missed, the Trump Administration will likely put pressure on both sides, he added. “The Americans propose that the parties end the war early this summer and will probably put pressure on the parties precisely according to this schedule,” he advanced.
“And they say they want to have everything ready by June. And that they will do everything possible to end the war. And they want a clear calendar of all events,” were his verbatim words.
He also said that the US proposed holding the next round of trilateral talks next week in its country for the first time, probably in Miami (USA). “We confirm our participation,” he added.
