On Monday Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected an alleged peace plan for Ukraine that he claimed was made by Donald Trump’s advisors and reportedly ‘leaked’ as well as statements made by Trump in his interview with Time Magazine.
“Judging from numerous leaks and Donald Trump’s interview with Time magazine on December 12, their idea is to suspend hostilities along the line of contact and transfer responsibility for confrontation with Russia to the Europeans. We are not happy, of course, with the proposals made by members of the Trump team to postpone Ukraine’s admission to NATO for 20 years and to station British and European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine,” Lavrov said Monday.
Notably, Trump’s interview with Time did not contain any references to NATO. Lavrov detailed actions taken by NATO, however.
“Those who accuse Russia of something need to look at themselves in the mirror,” Lavrov said. “NATO military personnel and mercenaries are blatantly involved in planning and conducting combat operations alongside the Ukrainian armed forces. NATO is involved in the invasion of the Kursk Region and strikes with long-range missiles on Russian territory. President Vladimir Putin has made this clear in his recent public speeches. What kind of escalation on our part can we even talk about?”
Lavrov said Russia will not take part in a ‘peace summit’ with Ukraine.
“It is impossible to guess what Zelensky’s public admission of his inability to regain lost territories by force means. Zelensky keeps making various statements all the time. We have stopped paying attention to them, frankly speaking,” the foreign minister noted. “We do not believe statements, but rather facts, especially when it comes to the Kiev regime,” he said. “I have repeatedly emphasized that we are not going to participate in the ‘peace summit’ even if we receive an invitation.”
Conversely, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said he is open to peace talks with Ukraine on the single condition that they hold elections. This sentiment was reiterated on Monday by Kremlin Spokesman Dimitri Peskov.
While it may seem that the Russian leadership is at odds with one another, conflicted on policy and agenda, it is also possible that Lavrov is playing the role of the ‘bad cop’ while Putin is playing the role of the ‘good cop’. This may be done as a negotiation tactic to maximize their bargaining power during deliberations with the Trump administration, as the party which holds the least amount of interest in a relationship often has the most power under the psychological and sociological principal of least interest.
Lavrov also discussed the geopolitical climate surrounding Israel, Iran, Syria, Taiwan, China and Georgia.
He said Russia is ready to restore relations with Georgia, opposes Taiwanese independence via its support of the One China policy and that the Iranian-Israeli confrontation has reached a dangerous brink.
“Lavrov explained the rapid development of the situation in Syria by the inability of former President Bashar Assad to address social problems in the country, with Washington’s destructive actions playing a major role in the crisis,” Pravda said Monday.