Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on Friday that there are no current arrangements for a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, countering recent claims by U.S. President Donald Trump, who suggested that discussions were imminent.
“President Putin has made it clear he is open to a meeting, but only if it has a substantive agenda,” Lavrov told NBC’s Meet the Press. “At this moment, no meeting is on the schedule.”
Following a gathering at the White House on Monday with Zelensky and European leaders, Trump indicated that plans were in place for a direct meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian heads of state, which would be followed by a trilateral summit including himself.
In the past, Putin has expressed that he would only engage with Zelensky if there was a pre-established agreement to end the conflict. Lavrov’s comments on Friday seemed to reinforce this position after days of ambiguous responses from Moscow, which hinted at openness but lacked a definitive commitment.
“President Trump put forward several points after our meeting in Anchorage that we find agreeable, and in some areas, we are willing to show flexibility,” Lavrov remarked, referring to the recent U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska. This meeting was largely viewed as an effort to ease Trump’s threats of imposing sanctions on Russia if it did not agree to a swift resolution of the war.
Lavrov also posited that the Kremlin and the White House were in agreement on some negotiation aspects, such as Trump’s opposition to Ukraine’s NATO membership and his belief that Kyiv should consider territorial concessions to Russia.
“Zelensky refused everything. He even rejected the notion of scrapping legislation against the use of the Russian language,” Lavrov said regarding the discussions at the White House, where Trump and Zelensky met with leaders from a coalition led by France and Britain. “How can we engage with someone who is not acting like a genuine leader?”
Trump has consistently maintained that Ukraine should not join NATO and should be open to making territorial concessions as part of a settlement process. However, contradictory statements about a potential Putin-Zelensky meeting, along with issues surrounding Western security guarantees for Ukraine, have led to speculation about gaps in alignment between U.S. and Russian officials.
Earlier in the week, Zelensky expressed a willingness to meet Putin but stated on Thursday that he sought more clarity regarding Western security assurances before confirming a summit with the Russian leader. Lavrov, on the other hand, asserted that Moscow must have a substantial influence on any discussions, further complicating what Western allies might be prepared to offer Kyiv.
Trump also mentioned to conservative news host Todd Starnes on Thursday that he would know “within two weeks” if progress was being made in the latest round of peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. “After that, we may need to consider a different approach,” he stated.
