Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stated that Russia will not accept NATO peacekeeping forces in Ukraine as part of any peace agreement. Speaking after high-level talks with the US in Saudi Arabia, Lavrov said, “The presence of armed forces under any other flag remains unacceptable.”
During the discussions, Russia and the US agreed to establish teams to negotiate an end to the war. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the meeting as “the first step of a long and difficult journey, but an important one.”
Ukraine was not invited to the talks, a decision that President Volodymyr Zelensky described as “surprising.” The meeting in Riyadh marked the first face-to-face encounter between Russian and American officials since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Attendees included US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov, and Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Lavrov announced that both countries would soon appoint ambassadors and work towards fully restoring cooperation. He reiterated Russia’s stance that any NATO expansion, including Ukraine’s potential membership, would be seen as a “direct threat” to Russia.
via BBC