Extract from ABC News
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says European leaders are trying to escalate the situation in Ukraine. (Reuters: Kaan Soyturk)
In short:
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says European leaders who met with Donald Trump earlier this week are attempting to escalate the situation in Ukraine.
It comes as NATO military leaders meet to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.
Mr Lavrov says any attempt to discuss the war without Russia is a "road to nowhere".
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says attempts to resolve Ukraine's security without Moscow's involvement are a "road to nowhere", after another meeting of European allies to discuss security guarantees.
Mr Lavrov particularly criticised the role of European leaders who met US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine that could help to end the war.
He said those leaders, which included UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, were involved in "a fairly aggressive escalation of the situation".
"We cannot agree with the fact that now it is proposed to resolve questions of security, collective security, without the Russian Federation. This will not work," Lavrov told a joint news conference after meeting the foreign minister of Jordan.
"I am sure that in the West and above all in the United States they understand perfectly well that seriously discussing security issues without the Russian Federation is a utopia, it's a road to nowhere."
Donald Trump met with Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders earlier this week at the White House. (Reuters: Alexander Drago)
US and European military planners have begun exploring post-conflict security guarantees for Ukraine, American officials and sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
Mr Lavrov said such discussions without Russia were pointless.
Russia accused of provocation after drone crashes in Poland
Mr Trump said on Monday the United States would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal to end Russia's war there.
He subsequently said he had ruled out putting US troops on the ground in Ukraine, but the US might provide air support as part of a deal to end the hostilities.
Moscow this week also restated its categorical rejection of "any scenarios involving the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine".
Russia continues to make steady territorial gains in eastern Ukraine. (Reuters: Maksym Kishka)
Mr Lavrov's comments came on the same day NATO military leaders held a video conference on Wednesday, local time, to discuss.
"Priority continues to be a just, credible and durable peace," Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone wrote in a post on X following the meeting.
On Wednesday, Poland accused Russia of provoking NATO after a likely Russian drone crashed into a field overnight.
"Once again, we are dealing with a provocation by the Russian Federation, with a Russian drone. We are dealing in a crucial moment, when discussions about peace [in Ukraine] are underway," Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
Reuters
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