Key points
- Ukraine must be neutral and non-aligned with any military bloc: Lavrov
- Russia wants Ukraine to be non-nuclear
- Accuses West of trying to “block” Ukraine peace talks
ISLAMABAD: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has outlined terms for ending the Ukraine war days after the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska.
He said in an interview published on Sunday that a group of nations, including United Nations Security Council members, should be the guarantors of Ukraine’s security.
Lavrov told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that Putin and US President Donald Trump had discussed the issue of a security guarantee for Ukraine and that Putin had raised the issue of the failed Istanbul discussions of 2022.
Permanent neutrality
At those discussions, Russia and Ukraine discussed Ukraine’s permanent neutrality in return for security guarantees from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, and other countries, according to Reuters.
🎙 FM Sergey #Lavrov to @NBCNews:
💬 We have no interest in territories. We have the biggest territory on Earth.
What we are concerned about (unlike those who raise the issue of invasion, taking more & more land) is the people who live on those lands.https://t.co/crJHODVVca pic.twitter.com/5AnXMA51jM
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) August 24, 2025
“And the guarantors would be guaranteeing the security of Ukraine, which must be neutral, which must be non-aligned with any military bloc and which must be non-nuclear,” Lavrov said, according to a transcript of the interview released by the foreign ministry.
No NATO membership
Lavrov also made it clear that NATO membership for Ukraine was unacceptable for Russia, that it wanted protection for Russian speakers in Ukraine and that there was a territorial discussion to be had with Ukraine.
Best moments of Lavrov’s interview or, basically, what we all wish we could say to Karen. pic.twitter.com/MuPuzMOxg2
— Rina Lu🇷🇺 (@rinalu_) August 24, 2025
Reuters reported last week that President Vladimir Putin is demanding that Ukraine give up all of the eastern Donbas region, renounce ambitions to join NATO, remain neutral and keep Western troops out of the country.
Accusations
Sergei Lavrov accused Western countries on Sunday of trying to “block” peace negotiations to end the Ukraine conflict, after a flurry of diplomatic activity appeared to stall.
US President Donald Trump has been championing a bilateral meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents – but both sides have blamed each other for not wanting the talks to come through.
“They’re just looking for a pretext to block negotiations,” Lavrov said in an interview with state TV station Rossiya aired Sunday on Telegram.
He slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for “obstinately insisting, setting conditions, demanding an immediate meeting at all costs” with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Lavrov also accused Ukrainian authorities of “attempts to disrupt the process that was laid down by Presidents Putin and Trump, which has yielded very good results”.
