In a carefully worded address on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov affirmed that “no meeting is planned” between President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, delivering a setback to mounting diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press, Lavrov stressed that a summit would only occur if an agenda one acceptable to Moscow were firmly established. “Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskiy when the agenda would be ready for a summit. And this agenda is not ready at all,” he asserted.
Lavrov also accused Zelenskyy of rejecting every proposed concession, citing Washington’s key terms —Ukraine abandoning NATO ambitions, conceding territorial discussions, and even softening restrictions on the Russian language, as wholly unacceptable. “Zelenskyy said no to everything,” Lavrov told NBC. “He even said no to cancelling legislation banning the Russian language.”
The comments reflect deepening mistrust: Russia insists meaningful negotiations must include its maximum demands in particular, Ukraine’s neutrality and territorial rollbacks, while Ukraine rejects ceding sovereignty or security guarantees. Lavrov dismissed Western discussions of security guarantees that exclude Moscow as futile, framing such proposals as a “road to nowhere”.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy has countered that Russia is actively undermining peace prospects. Speaking alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Kyiv, he accused Moscow of “doing everything… to prevent the meeting from taking place,” while reaffirming Ukraine’s openness to a summit so long as it comes with “Article 5-like” security guarantees, specifying which countries would help safeguard its land, air, and seas.
The stalemate casts a shadow over U.S.-led initiatives to mediate, including President Donald Trump’s high-profile diplomacy push. Trump had suggested he was arranging a trilateral summit between Putin, Zelenskyy, and himself, but Lavrov’s remarks now indicate Moscow is rebuffing such overtures, insisting no meaningful discussion can take place without pre-negotiated terms.
