Lavrov’s main points at a meeting at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke at the 13th embassy “round table” for the Moscow diplomatic corps. The topic of the meeting was the Ukrainian crisis and the West’s legal aggression.
Negotiations:
Russia is ready for a new round of talks on Ukraine. Moscow is open both to a bilateral format and to a trilateral one — with the participation of the United States, the resumption of which was proposed by the American side.
Russia’s position on Ukraine has not changed even once: the goals of the special military operation remain the same. Lavrov said Moscow is ready to look for reasonable compromises, but two conditions are inviolable — preventing NATO from reaching Russia’s borders and ensuring the rights of the Russian-speaking population.
Lavrov stressed that the special military operation will not be paused for the duration of negotiations.
“After the Istanbul agreements failed because of Western interference, we will not halt the special military operation for the period of talks.”
The head of Russian diplomacy also denied rumours of a possible “deal” between the United States and Russia — Washington’s help on Ukraine in exchange for Moscow’s assistance on Iran.
Anchorage:
If the United States had not walked away from the agreements reached at the Putin–Trump summit in Anchorage on 15 August 2025, the war would have ended a year ago.
“If the Americans had not walked away from the Anchorage agreements, if Europe had not pulled them away from those agreements, we would already have been living without war for a year. That is an obvious fact.”
Lavrov noted that in Anchorage the talk was precisely of agreements, not informal “understandings.”
Recall that at the Anchorage summit the sides reached a number of temporary compromises, including a 30-day halt to strikes on energy infrastructure and a prisoner exchange. Later Lavrov explained that the issue was Ukraine’s rejection of NATO membership and Russia keeping the territories that had joined it. In July 2026, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said those proposals had “failed” because Kyiv considered them unacceptable.
Course of the conflict and assessment of the situation:
Commenting on the fighting in Ukraine, Lavrov said claims that Kyiv is achieving a turning point in the conflict do not correspond to reality.
European countries that previously spoke of the need to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia are now “begging to stop” on the line of contact. Lavrov called this European position unserious: they propose stopping the fighting, deploying “stabilisation forces” on the remaining Ukrainian territory and guaranteeing Kyiv’s security, while refusing to recognise the territories that have joined Russia.
Separately the minister addressed mobilisation in Ukraine, saying that “it will soon come to women as well.” Earlier Russia’s SVR reported that the European Union is urging Kyiv to mobilise women, citing Israel’s experience; according to intelligence, the AFU’s mobilisation potential may be exhausted within a year.
Timeframe of the special military operation:
Russia is not setting artificial deadlines for completing the special military operation.
“Our president clearly warns that all the goals of the special military operation will be achieved,”
Lavrov said. The priority is saving the lives of civilians and Russian servicemen.
Frozen Russian reserves, oil and “piracy”:
Russia will certainly achieve the return of the gold and foreign-exchange reserves frozen by the European Union. According to Lavrov, the European Commission intends to confiscate these assets and return them only after Moscow pays “some reparations” to Ukraine.
The issue of European countries detaining ships carrying Russian cargoes was also raised. Since the beginning of 2026 alone the EU has detained 12 vessels, citing “invented categories such as the shadow fleet.” Russia, for its part, is ready to fulfil all obligations on oil and grain exports, rebuilding logistics “despite the unlawful actions of Western neo-colonialists.”
Recall that in August President Putin instructed the Defence Ministry to respond in kind to the seizure of Russian ships, and not necessarily in the same waters.
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