لافروف: لا فائدة من مناقشة الضمانات الأمنية دون روسيا

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused European leaders of trying to change the position of U.S. President Donald Trump, but he considered that "the U.S. administration has a good understanding of the roots of the Ukrainian crisis." Lavrov expressed hope at a press conference today (Wednesday) that Washington would understand that "discussing security issues without Russia will not yield any results."

He stated that security guarantees should be fair and equal for everyone, referring to the discussion among European countries in addition to representatives from the U.S. administration on this issue through a virtual meeting, according to Western media.

Lavrov confirmed that his country supports reliable security guarantees, adding that Moscow did not hear any constructive positions from European leaders during the meeting at the White House last Monday.

For his part, the Russian president's special representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, Kirill Dmitriev, believed that European leaders are trying to obstruct peace negotiations and restore relations between Russia and the United States. He said via his channel on "Telegram": "European leaders are trying in every possible way to obstruct the peace negotiations and the restoration of Russian-American relations, under the pretext of distrust towards Russia."

Lavrov had stated in remarks yesterday, Tuesday, that Trump demonstrated a deep understanding of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis after the Alaska summit held on the 15th of this month.

It is expected that NATO defense ministers will hold an online meeting to establish potential future security guarantees for Kyiv that would help in reaching a peace agreement. The chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Italian Admiral Giuseppe Cavò Dragone, stated that 32 defense ministers from the alliance will hold a video conference meeting, while diplomatic efforts led by the United States push to end the fighting.