Comments by Russia’s FM come as Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says security guarantees needed before Putin meeting.
Russia has said that Ukraine was “not interested” in a long-term peace deal, accusing it of seeking security guarantees incompatible with Russia’s demands.
“The Ukrainian regime and its representatives comment on the current situation in a very specific way, directly showing that they are not interested in a sustainable, fair, long-term settlement,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference on Thursday.
Lavrov also repeated Russia’s policy that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy – but only after key issues have previously been worked out by senior officials in what could be a long negotiating process.
His comments came as Zelenskyy announced he could meet with Putin, but only after his allies agree to security guarantees for Ukraine to deter future Russian attacks once the fighting stops.
In comments released on Thursday, Zelenskyy also warned that both sides were preparing for further fighting. Russia was building up troops on the southern front line and Ukraine was test-launching a new long-range cruise missile, he said.
US President Donald Trump is trying to end Russia’s three-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine through talks with Zelenskyy and Putin.
While he has upended a years-long Western policy of isolating the Russian leader, he has made little tangible progress towards a peace deal.
Trump said in comments posted on his own social media platform, Truth Social, that the war would have “never happened” if he was in office at the time of Russia’s invasion.
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“Zero chance,” Trump wrote, adding: “Interesting times ahead,” without elaborating further.
Since Trump returned to the White House in January and began pushing for an end to the fighting, Russian forces have continued to slowly but steadily gain ground across the front line.
Zelenskyy, in his comments to reporters, said Ukraine wants to have “an understanding of the security guarantees architecture within seven to 10 days”.
“We need to understand which country will be ready to do what at each specific moment,” he added.
Ukraine allies led by the United Kingdom and France are putting together a military coalition to support the guarantees. Lavrov warned that any deployment of European troops to the country would be “absolutely unacceptable”.
Once an outline of the security guarantees is agreed, Trump would like to see a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian leader said.
But any meeting with the Russian leader should be held in a “neutral” European country, he added, ruling out any summit in Moscow.
He also rejected the idea of China playing a role in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security, citing Beijing’s alleged support for Moscow.
Zelenskyy has said the only way to end the war is a meeting with Putin, and has said Trump should be present, too.
But Moscow has played down the prospect of a summit between Putin and Zelenskyy any time soon, insisting it needs to be included in discussions on future security guarantees for Ukraine.