Lavrov states Russia willing to upgrade level of direct discussions with Kiev
(MENAFN) Russia has expressed readiness to raise the level of its delegation in peace negotiations with Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, following last week’s summit between President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in Alaska.
Lavrov explained that the proposal came from Putin after a phone call with Trump, which coincided with Trump’s talks at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and key European leaders. It remains unclear whether raising the delegation level could lead to direct talks between Putin and Zelensky.
The upgraded delegation status would also allow for a dedicated review of political issues alongside ongoing military and humanitarian discussions. Lavrov noted that Russia had suggested forming three working groups to cover these topics during previous direct talks with Ukraine, but Kiev has not yet responded.
This year, Russia and Ukraine have conducted three rounds of talks in Istanbul, which produced no major breakthroughs on resolving the conflict but did result in prisoner exchanges.
Lavrov’s comments follow the Alaska summit, which both Putin and Trump described as constructive but concluded without an agreement on Ukraine. In subsequent US-led meetings with Zelensky and European leaders, Trump reiterated that Ukraine’s NATO membership is off the table and called for a direct meeting between Putin and Zelensky. Putin has said such a meeting could occur but only after significant progress in negotiations and raised doubts about Zelensky’s authority to sign binding agreements due to his expired presidential term.
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