I'm Ready to Hold In-Person Meeting with Rubio : Russian Foreign Minister

Sergey Lavrov, the veteran Russian foreign minister, said he’s ready to hold an in-person meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio but insisted that Moscow’s interests need to be taken into account when discussing the war in Ukraine.

“It is important to discuss the Ukrainian issue and promote the bilateral agenda,” Lavrov said in an interview with news agency Ria Novosti published on Sunday. “That is why we communicate by telephone and are ready to hold face-to-face meetings when necessary,” he added.

The interview comes after the Kremlin on Friday dismissed media reports that Lavrov, a long-standing ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had fallen out of favor in the Kremlin because of a lack of results in discussions with Washington.

In the interview, Lavrov said that the talks Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump held in Alaska in the summer should remain the basis of a potential deal to end the aggression against Ukraine.

“At the time, the Americans assured us they would be able to ensure that [Ukrainian President] Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not impede the peace process. Apparently, certain difficulties have arisen in this regard,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov repeatedly attacked European leaders during the interview, arguing that “Brussels and London are trying to persuade Washington to abandon its intention to resolve the crisis through political and diplomatic means and fully engage in efforts to exert military pressure on Russia.”

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is continuing despite efforts by the Trump administration and others to encourage negotiations.

Lavrov has not appeared in public since Oct. 28 as Washington scrapped a planned meeting with Putin in Budapest because he did not show a willingness to make concessions, according to a Financial Times report.