Lavrov Accuses Europe of Sabotaging Ukraine Peace Talks at the UN

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking at UN headquarters in New York, said that Europe is doing everything possible to sabotage the Ukraine peace talks that the Trump administration is interested in pursuing. He also accused Western countries of supplying weapons to Kyiv and helping the Ukrainian army strike civilians and civilian infrastructure with drones and missiles.

Accusations against the West

According to Lavrov, Western countries continue to "pump" Ukraine full of weapons and are also helping Kyiv choose targets for strikes among the civilian population and infrastructure. "The West is seeking to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, but these efforts will only drive the warmongers themselves into a strategic dead end," the minister said.

The Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz

Lavrov said Moscow is ready to help stabilize the situation around the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf region as a whole. According to him, the countries of the region — the Gulf states, Arab countries and Iran — need to rebuild mutual trust and build a sustainable security system. "Russia, along with other responsible states, is ready to constructively contribute to stabilizing this strategically important region," Lavrov added.

Meeting with Germany's foreign minister

In New York, Lavrov also held a closed-door meeting with his German counterpart Johann Wadephul, at Germany's request. This is the first face-to-face meeting between the Russian and German foreign ministers since January 2022 — the month before Russia's invasion of Ukraine began. Relations between Berlin and Moscow have remained effectively frozen ever since.

Germany had earlier accused Moscow of involvement in a failed drone attack on Leipzig Airport, after which it closed the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin. In response, Russia closed the German consulate in St. Petersburg and all branches of the Goethe Institute on its territory.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz