Russia's Lavrov accuses Europe of prolonging Ukraine war as Zelenskyy calls for meeting with Putin

As the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war continues to escalate, Russia accused European leaders of prolonging the conflict and “not wanting peace in Ukraine”. The remarks came from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Sunday. Lavrov’s comments on the matter came after the US Vice President JD Vance said that the US would “keep on trying” to broker talks between the two nations.

While speaking to NBC News on Sunday, Lavrov denied that his country had bombed civilian targets in Ukraine. He went on to say that Trump had set himself above European leaders who accompanied Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for talks at the White House last week after the POTUS’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We want peace in Ukraine. He wants, President Trump wants, peace in Ukraine. The reaction to [the] Anchorage meeting, the gathering in Washington of these European representatives and what they were doing after Washington, indicates that they don’t want peace,” Lavrov averred.

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While speaking to NBC News, the Russian foreign minister brushed off Trump’s apparent frustration at the outcome and the US warning of “massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both” against Moscow. The Russian diplomat said “yes” when asked if Putin wanted peace and insisted that Putin and Trump respect each other.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy on Sunday insisted that a meeting with his Russian counterpart continues to remain “the most effective way forward” as the two sides exchange prisoners and the country celebrated Independence Day. The remarks came at a time when Ukrainian generals said that the country’s troops had recaptured three villages in the Donetsk region that had fallen under Russian control. Ukraine also launched drone strikes on Russia, triggering a fire at a nuclear power plant.

Zelenskyy maintained that the “format of talks between leaders is the most effective way forward”, renewing calls for a bilateral summit with Putin. Zelenskyy was responding to Lavrov’s accusation of Western countries seeking “a pretext to block negotiations” and condemned Zelenskyy for “demanding an immediate meeting at all costs”.

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Zelenskyy, speaking at a ceremony attended by Western officials including US envoy Keith Kellogg – whom he awarded with the Ukrainian Order of Merit – vowed to “push Russia to peace”. On the same day, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky said that three other villages had been reclaimed in Donetsk, which has emerged as the focal point for peace talks. Hence, it will be interesting to see whether Putin and Zelenskyy will sit down for peace talks or not.

With inputs from agencies.