A summit on achieving peace in Ukraine was held in London on Sunday. The event was attended by the leaders of several European countries, as well as representatives of the European Union and NATO. In addition, according to media reports, Britain and France, together with Ukraine, are developing an alternative plan for a peace agreement, which will then be presented to the United States.
One of the points of the agreement is the conclusion of a ceasefire between the parties to the conflict for a month and the cessation of mutual attacks on energy infrastructure, French President Emmanuel Macron explained in an interview with Le Figaro. At the same time, the ceasefire does not yet concern a ceasefire. The second stage provides for the sending of peacekeeping forces to Ukraine, but only after peace is concluded.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer previously clarified that this plan, after discussions with the US, could be implemented jointly.
"It is important for Europe's security that the continent works in close cooperation with the United States," he stressed.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement to ABC that he had no contact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after a heated discussion erupted in the Oval Office on Friday between President Donald Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he remains committed to signing an agreement between Kyiv and Washington on minerals and wants to continue dialogue with the United States.
US President's National Security Advisor Mike Walz commented on the European summit in London for Voice of America.
"We welcome the Europeans taking the lead in European security. I mean, that was key. They have to invest in that. They have certainly shown the will, and both Starmer and Macron have shown that will. The NATO Secretary General spoke to the President on the phone ahead of President Zelensky's arrival. So we welcome the fact that Europe wants to strengthen, but it also needs to invest in the capacity to do that. And all of that was obvious and repeated before the meeting on Friday, and he could have provided an economic guarantee that would benefit Ukraine and, I think, the whole world for a generation. So we don't understand why he was so confrontational," Volz told VOA.
In this context, Russian officials are refraining from criticizing the US administration and President Donald Trump personally, and the target of the Kremlin's attacks has shifted to the European flank, including Ukraine, independent observers note.
In particular, the spokesman for the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the discussion between Vladimir Zelensky and Donald Trump, cited the Ukrainian leader’s complete lack of “diplomatic skills” and his alleged desire to continue the war. Peskov also noted that changes in the United States’ “foreign policy configurations” largely coincide with Moscow’s vision.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s interview with the military publication Krasnaya Zvezda turned out to be much harsher in tone and meaning. He directly accused Europe of wanting to “continue the banquet” in the form of war and of “inciting” Kiev against Russia. In general, according to the minister, over the past five centuries, all the tragedies of the world have occurred because of European policy – no more, no less.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's interview with the military newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda took a harsher tone. He directly accused Europe of wanting to continue the war and of "inciting" Kiev against Russia. In general, according to the minister, over the past five centuries, all the tragedies in the world have happened because of European policy - no more, no less.
After his meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday, Donald Trump has, at least in the Kremlin's opinion, moved to the status of an ally, writes columnist Andrei Kolesnikov on the Novaya Gazeta website. However, in his opinion, it is worth paying attention to Trump's words that he is "above the situation."
During the discussion, the US president stressed: "I have to be in harmony with the world. I want to set everything up. I support Europe. I want to see if we can do this. I could be tougher than anyone you've ever seen. I would be so tough, but that way you'll never get a deal..."
"His interest, which he equates with the interests of the United States, is to end the conflict," the political scientist adds.
"There are two sides in the conflict. And if during future negotiations, when and if they occur, he remains dissatisfied with the intransigence of the Russian side, there will be no signing ceremony and new sanctions and measures to reduce oil prices will follow with the same determination and speed as Zelensky's "punishment," Kolesnikov states.
Therefore, Andrey Kolesnikov sees what happened with the Ukrainian president as a lesson for the Russian side in a certain sense:
"Of course, Trump will not behave like that with the leader of a nuclear power, precisely because it is nuclear. But he hardly considers Putin close. More precisely, the President of the Russian Federation is for him a profitable potential business partner, who, however, must first fulfill some conditions of the upcoming big deal," he states.
The journalist also notes that the Putin-Trump meeting is being postponed because the conditions have not been met: "There are only mutual positive assessments. And after the meeting, another long period of harmonizing positions with Ukraine and the EU begins, given the current level of relations with the United States."
In this regard, it seems to Andrei Kolesnikov that the uncertainty may drag on.
"Vladimir Putin has so far shown a restrained reaction to the scandal in the Oval Office, but the same cannot be said for the people below him," noted political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin in a commentary for the Voice of America Russian Service.
In his opinion, the reaction of Putin's entourage was "triumphant and aggressive."
"In this sense, Lavrov's interview with Krasnaya Zvezda is the clearest, he got very carried away there, and he conveyed the specific political narratives of the Kremlin. Lavrov managed to forget all the previous official escapades and stated, looking back at the historical past, that the Americans did not play any inciting, let alone incendiary role. They say that this is a completely worthy country, inclined to peaceful resolution of problems. Although the Kremlin recently claimed that the West, led by the United States, is a historical enemy of Russia, they called Zelensky a puppet of the United States and viewed the world through this prism," Oreshkin adds.
Now the situation, according to Lavrov, has changed dramatically, and Europe is Russia's main enemy, Dmitry Oreshkin said.
“This is becoming the main trend in Kremlin policy. Therefore, while changing his uniform on the fly, the minister explains that the US is, if not a friend, then a reliable partner, and that the vile Britain and France are always to blame for everything. At the same time, he distorts reality before our eyes, engaging in complete deception. So Lavrov put forward an incredible formulation that France and Great Britain showed “impudence” by proposing to send European peacekeepers to Ukraine without consulting Moscow, and said that the Europeans violated the Minsk agreements, and that Zelensky came to power on Western bayonets. This is a pure lie, and then everything continues in the same spirit.”
The demonstrative loyalty to the United States suggests that the Kremlin intends to take advantage of the situation, hoping to exacerbate the contradictions between Europe and America, the political scientist concluded.
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