Moscow insisted on a veto over any postwar support for Ukraine while conducting a large-scale overnight missile barrage. Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said European proposals to deploy troops in Ukraine after a settlement would be foreign intervention unacceptable to Russia. Lavrov urged return to a 2022 Istanbul framework where Moscow and Beijing would help guarantee Ukraine's security, terms Kyiv rejects. European leaders are considering security guarantees and potential troop deployments, contingent on US involvement. US officials previously interpreted a Trump-Putin meeting as acceptance of western guarantees, but Lavrov's remarks cast doubt on that understanding. Trump criticized Biden for restricting Ukraine's ability to attack.
Moscow threw Donald Trump's Ukraine peace initiative into disarray on Thursday, insisting it must have a veto over any postwar support for the country as its forces carried out a large-scale overnight missile barrage. In a series of hardline remarks, Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said European proposals to deploy troops in Ukraine after a settlement would amount to foreign intervention, which he called absolutely unacceptable for Russia.
Lavrov said Russia wanted to return to discussing a framework first proposed during the initial peace talks held in Istanbul in 2022, under which Moscow and Beijing would help guarantee Ukraine's security alongside European allies terms Kyiv considers unacceptable. We support the principles and security guarantees that were agreed in April 2022, Lavrov said. Anything else is of course an absolutely futile undertaking.
European leaders are exploring possible security guarantees for Ukraine after the war, building on Trump's promise to back the country under any settlement with Russia. France, Britain and Estonia have indicated they could send troops to a postwar Ukraine, while several other nations said they might take part, though much depends on US involvement. Lavrov's comments cast doubt on the prospects for peace talks.
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