Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday said it had to be part of any discussion on security guarantees for Ukraine and downplayed the likelihood of an imminent summit with President Volodymyr Zelensky, tempering hopes for a quick peace deal. Lavrov said that Moscow must be included in any talks on Ukraine’s security guarantees, dismissing European diplomacy as “aggressive escalation” and a “clumsy effort to sway Trump”. “To discuss security guarantees seriously without Russia is a road to nowhere,” Lavrov said. Lavrov also said that China, Russia’s ally in the war, should be among Ukraine’s security guarantors – reviving a proposal first put forward by Russian negotiators during talks in Turkey in spring 2022.