Russia says US facing ‘difficulties’ convincing Zelenskyy and NATO allies on Ukraine peace plan

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday that the United States is struggling to convince Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO allies not to obstruct Washington’s efforts toward a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict.

Lavrov’s remarks followed weeks of failed attempts to organise a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, intended as a follow-up to their August 15 meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, where the two leaders had discussed but failed to finalise a peace deal.

“The Americans assured us back then (at the Alaska summit) that they would ensure Zelenskyy would not hinder the peace process,” Lavrov told RIA Novosti. “Apparently, certain difficulties have arisen on this issue,” he added.

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“Furthermore, as far as we know, Brussels and London are trying to persuade Washington to abandon its intention to resolve the crisis through political and diplomatic means and fully engage in efforts to exert military pressure on Russia, that is, to finally become part of the ’war party’,” he said.

Lavrov also underscored that despite the compromise reached at the summit in Anchorage, Moscow is firm on its fundamental principles: Russia’s territorial integrity and the choice of the residents of Crimea, Donbass, and Novorossiya are not negotiable.

“We are now awaiting confirmation from the United States that the Anchorage agreements remain in force,” Lavrov added.

Putin has repeatedly stated that Russia advocates exclusively for a long-term settlement without any temporary ceasefires and that achieving such a settlement is possible only after addressing the root causes of the conflict.

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The root causes he identifies include the threats to Russia’s national security arising from NATO expansion and the oppression of the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine.

Lavrov had talked to his US counterpart Marco Rubio on October 20 to prepare for the Budapest summit between Putin and Trump, which was reportedly cancelled due to Moscow’s rigid stand for seeking a political settlement before a ceasefire.

Winter without heat?

Of the 458 drones and 45 missiles launched by Russia overnight into Saturday, Ukraine’s air force said it downed 406 drones and nine missiles.

Experts said the strikes on energy infrastructure put Ukraine at risk of heating outages ahead of the winter months.

Russia has targeted the power and heating grid throughout its almost four-year invasion, destroying a large part of the key civilian infrastructure.

The barrage overnight into Saturday was the ninth massive attack on gas infrastructure since early October, Ukraine’s energy company Naftogaz said.

Kyiv’s School of Economics estimated in a report that the attacks shut down half of Ukraine’s natural gas production.

Ukraine’s top energy expert, Oleksandr Kharchenko, told a media briefing Wednesday that if Kyiv’s two power and heating plants went offline for more than three days when temperatures fall below minus 10C, the capital would face a “technological disaster”.

He said Ukrainian cities, which mostly rely on central heating, should prepare contingency plans to prevent buildings from freezing in case heating supplies are destroyed.

With inputs from agencies