Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Russia’s foreign minister has rejected an announced peace deal involving Ukraine and NATO, claiming the proposals were made by advisers to President-elect Trump.
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov he commented during an interview with TASS, the state-run Russian news agency, on Monday. During the interview, Lavrov claimed that the US plans to “suspend hostilities along the contact line and shift responsibility for the conflict with Russia to the Europeans.”
“We are not satisfied, of course, with the proposals of members of the Trump team to delay Ukraine’s admission to NATO for 20 years and to station British and European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine,” the foreign minister said, although the deal was not announced by any US officials.
Lavrov said the proposal came through a “leak” and Trump’s recent interview with TIME magazine, but Trump’s interview did not contain any references to NATO. The Minister of Foreign Affairs also asserted that NATO “has been expanding its reach for several years, which has become one of the primary causes of the Ukrainian crisis.”
USA INTRODUCES SANCTIONS ON COMPANIES LINKED TO NORTH STREAM 2 IN AN TRY TO SQUEEZE RUSSIA
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected a peace deal with Ukraine reportedly offered by Trump’s team. (Getty Images)
“Those who accuse Russia of various actions should be advised to look in the mirror instead,” the foreign minister later said during an interview. “NATO military and mercenaries openly participate in the planning of combat operations and fighting on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
“NATO is complicit in the invasion of the Kursk region and long-range missile attacks inside Russia,” Lavrov continued. “President Vladimir Putin has made this very clear in his recent public statements.”
During an interview with TIME magazine’s Person of the Year, Trump said it was a “win-win” for the Russian-Ukrainian war to end and argued that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if he had been president in 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds his annual year-end press conference in Moscow on December 19, 2024. (ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images)
“I strongly disagree with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that?” Trump said then. “We’re just escalating this war and making it worse…[but] I want to get a deal, and the only way you’re going to get a deal is if you don’t give up.”
Lavrov’s recent interview came a week after the Russian president Vladimir Putin expressed his willingness to compromise with Trump, although he insisted that Russia is in a stronger position than it was in 2022.
“Soon there will be no more Ukrainians who want to fight. In my opinion, soon there will be no one left who wants to fight,” Putin was quoted as saying. We are ready, but the other side should be ready for negotiations and compromises.
We have always said that we are ready for negotiations and compromises.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
US President-elect Donald Trump smiles during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on December 22, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to Trump’s team for comment, but did not immediately respond.
Reuters contributed to this report.
