Russia is ready to continue stalled peace talks with Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced this on Tuesday, according to the TASS agency. Russian leader Vladimir Putin later said he was refusing to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
23.06.2026 12:35 , updated: 13:58
Reuters noted that the head of Russian diplomacy in his statement did not indicate a willingness to back down from Russian demands that Ukraine give up even the territories that Russian troops have not captured since the beginning of the invasion in February 2022. Kiev rejects these Russian territorial claims and proposes to stop fighting on the current front line.
“We are ready to negotiate with Kyiv, we always have been,” Lavrov said. Negotiations on a possible peaceful solution to the conflict began immediately after the invasion in 2022 in Istanbul, after their collapse, the talks resumed in 2025. Even this negotiation did not bring a breakthrough.
According to TASS, Lavrov said that Europe is ignoring the opportunity for equal negotiations on Ukraine. He noted that Brussels, Berlin, Paris and London only want to take revenge on Russia and strive for the absorption of Ukraine by the North Atlantic Alliance or the European Union. He stated that the West is showing a Hitlerian mindset in this regard.
Putin refuses to meet with Zelensky
Russian President Vladimir Putin said later on Tuesday that Ukraine was attacking civilians and that he saw no reason to hold direct talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky because of these strikes. This was reported by the Reuters agency, according to which the head of the Kremlin believes that the goal of Ukrainian drone attacks is the destabilization of Russian society. Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian invasion since February 2022, and part of the defense includes strikes deep in Russian territory.
Ukraine says that when it strikes targets in Russia, it targets military, logistical targets and objects connected to the oil industry. Moscow has now come forward with accusations of attacks on civilians. Ukraine also faces drone attacks, which regularly reports on Russian attacks on apartment buildings and shops, although Russia insists that it only attacks military installations.
According to TASS, Putin also commented on the reasons for the war, which Russia describes as a special military operation. The head of the Kremlin said that Russia was patient for eight years before it was forced to come out in support of the people of Donbass in 2022. He noted that whenever Russia decides to defend its interests, it is accused of aggression.
The United States has been trying to broker a peace deal between Kiev and Moscow since Donald Trump’s return to the White House last year. Russia makes territorial demands and also wants a commitment that Ukraine will never become a member of NATO as part of a possible peace agreement. Kyiv considers some Russian demands, especially territorial ones, to be unacceptable.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that while Russia offers a compromise, Ukraine is not ready for it. However, Putin rejects the proposal to negotiate with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. While Zelenskyy promises a breakthrough from a possible meeting with Putin, Putin currently sees no reason for negotiations. Moscow also rejects Ukraine’s proposal for a cease-fire, saying that it is not necessary to stop the fighting because of the talks.
Lavrov: Europe is a threat to international peace
In the words of the head of its diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, Russia declared on Tuesday that Europe represents a “threat to international peace and security”. It also said that the United States no longer seeks to play the role of an “objective mediator” in efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. TASR informs about it based on the AFP report.
US-led talks to end the conflict have long been stalled by the Middle East war, which began in February with an attack on Iran by the United States and Israel. However, during the G7 summit in June, world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, agreed on a final statement that also addressed the war in Ukraine. The leaders agreed to increase supplies of air defenses to Kiev and intensify pressure on Russia’s “war economy” through tougher sanctions.
“As for the United States, judging by their actions, it seems that they are renouncing any claim to the role of an objective mediator and are instead taking the path of escalating sanctions pressure on Russia,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told foreign ambassadors in Moscow on Tuesday.
“Europe is again becoming a significant threat to international peace and security” for providing military aid to Ukraine, stated the head of Russian diplomacy.
In February 2022, the Russian army invaded Ukraine on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, thus starting the largest armed conflict in Europe since the end of World War II.
