The top US and Russian diplomats have discussed efforts to settle the Ukraine conflict, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow has said
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a phone conversation on Thursday.
The two top diplomats focused on the Ukraine conflict and ongoing multilateral contacts on a potential settlement, the Russian Foreign Ministry has stated.
Rubio briefed Lavrov on the meetings between the American delegation and representatives of Ukraine, France, and other European nations held earlier in the day in Paris, the ministry said.
“Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s readiness to continue working together with American colleagues to reliably resolve the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis,” it added.
The US State Department said Rubio conveyed to Lavrov the “same message” he delivered to the Ukrainian and European delegations: That US President Donald Trump and Washington “want this war to end, and have now presented to all parties the outlines of a durable and lasting peace.”
“The encouraging reception in Paris to the US framework shows that peace is possible if all parties commit to reaching an agreement,” the statement added, without providing further details.
The Paris meetings involved top dignitaries from all sides, with the US delegation led by Rubio and Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, a key official in the talks on resolving the Ukraine conflict. Kiev was represented by Vladimir Zelensky’s head of office, Andrey Yermak, as well as Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
Zelensky launched a new personal attack on Witkoff, accusing him of spreading “Russian narratives” and effectively siding with Moscow. Speaking at a televised press conference on Thursday, the Ukrainian leader invoked Witkoff’s recent remarks that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine revolves around “five territories,” the formerly Ukrainian Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions, and Crimea.
“I believe that Mr. Witkoff has adopted the Russian side’s strategy for himself… He is consciously or unconsciously spreading Russian narratives… I do not see him having a mandate to discuss Ukrainian territories,” Zelensky stated.
Last week, Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg in their third round of direct talks since February. The recognition of the “five territories” is a key to any peace deal, Witkoff told Fox News in an interview earlier this week.
Crimea voted to rejoin Russia in 2014, shortly after it broke away from Ukraine in the aftermath of the Maidan coup. The four other regions became part of Russia in autumn 2022 following referendums.
