Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared Thursday that Russia will work with President-elect Donald Trump's administration to improve relations on the same terms. That means the United States must act first.
Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who was appointed by President Trump as special envoy to Ukraine, told Fox News on December 18 that the two countries are ready for peace talks and that President Trump is well positioned to implement the agreement to end the war. He said he was in a position.
His confidence runs counter to NATO, which sees no point in the U.S. negotiating peace with Russia because it would have unintended consequences for relations with other adversaries, including Iran, China and North Korea. is.
“If the signal from the new team in Washington to restore the dialogue that Washington interrupted after the start of the special military operation (Ukraine war) is serious, then of course we will respond to it,” Lavrov told reporters. Ta. Moscow, Reuters report.
“But the American side has broken off dialogue, so they should take the first action,” Lavrov, who served as Putin's foreign minister for more than 20 years, told reporters in Moscow.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and caused the biggest rift in Russia's relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Lavrov said Russia sees no point in a weak ceasefire to freeze the war, but wants a legally binding agreement for a lasting peace that will ensure the security of both Russia and its neighbors. Reuters reported in detail.
“A ceasefire is not a road to nowhere,” Lavrov said.
“We need a final legal agreement that creates all conditions to ensure the security of the Russian Federation and, of course, the legitimate security interests of neighboring countries,” Lavrov said.
He added that he wants the legal documents to be drafted in a way that ensures that the Russian government “will not be able to violate these agreements.”
