Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Tuesday that Russia couldn’t accept US proposals on ending the Ukraine war in their current form since they do not address the root causes of the conflict.
Ryabkov said Moscow hasn’t seen the US send a “clear signal” to Ukraine that it’s time to end the war.
“What we have today is an effort to find a framework that would make it possible to ensure America’s vision for a ceasefire. The idea is to then move on to some other models and frameworks, which, as far as we can see, leave no room for Russia’s core demand, that is, the need to resolve the issues stemming from the root causes of this conflict,” he said, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
Ryabkov said Russia takes the US proposals very seriously but that they couldn’t be accepted “as they are.”
Recent negotiations between the US and Russia have focused on establishing a moratorium on the targeting of energy infrastructure in the war and a Black Sea ceasefire. While progress has been made on those fronts, there’s no sign the negotiations will lead to a full ceasefire and a lasting peace deal any time soon.
President Trump has also recently threatened to impose “secondary tariffs” on Russian oil and said he was “pissed off” at Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that US and Russian officials will soon meet in Istanbul for further talks. He said the talks are focused on ending the war in Ukraine, restoring the Black Sea deal that allowed grain shipments to flow, and normalizing US-Russia ties by removing “irritants” in the relationship.
