Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Claims US at Fault for Kremlin Peace Failure

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed Monday that the war in Ukraine could have ended a year ago if the United States and Europe had not abandoned what he described as agreements reached at a 2025 summit in Alaska. “If the Americans had not backed away from the Anchorage agreements, if Europe had not derailed those agreements, we would have been living without war for a year already,” Lavrov said during a roundtable discussion on Russia’s war against Ukraine.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “That is an obvious fact, so draw your own conclusions,” Lavrov said, according to Russian state news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti and the Russian outlet RBC. However, no peace agreement was announced after US President Donald Trump met Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Anchorage on Aug. 15, 2025. Trump left the summit without securing a ceasefire or an agreement to end the war. Ukraine did not participate in the talks. Additionally, agreements by US presidents are not official, binding government policy unless ratified as a treaty by the US Senate. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there had been proposals and discussions in Alaska but no formal agreement. Lavrov nevertheless accused Washington and European governments of prolonging the war and repeated Moscow’s claim that Russia had never rejected negotiations. “We have never refused talks. And all the negotiations that took place were interrupted not at our initiative. Therefore, if our colleagues are ready, I think they can certainly be resumed. We have something to say.” Other Topics of Interest Kremlin Calls Trump’s Energy Truce ‘Good Idea’ By calling it a “good idea,” the Kremlin also tacitly rebuffed Trump’s claim that a truce has been agreed. Lavrov said Moscow was open to both bilateral and trilateral negotiations. At the same time, he said Russia would not suspend its military operations against Ukraine while talks were underway. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and continues to occupy parts of the country. Moscow has repeatedly rejected calls for an unconditional ceasefire while demanding Ukrainian territorial concessions and restrictions on Kyiv’s military and foreign policy. Lavrov claimed Russia had not altered its position since the beginning of the invasion and remained prepared to seek what he called “reasonable compromises.” “We are ready, within the framework of this position, to seek reasonable compromises,” Lavrov said. He added that Moscow would not abandon its demands to prevent NATO from expanding to Russia’s borders and to guarantee what he described as the rights of Russian and Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine. Lavrov also repeated Kremlin claims that Russia was seeking the “denazification” and “demilitarization” of Ukraine. Moscow has used those terms to justify its invasion, though Ukraine is a democracy whose president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is Jewish. The Russian foreign minister’s claim that Moscow has consistently supported negotiations contrasts with its refusal to stop fighting during diplomatic talks. The Anchorage summit was promoted as an opportunity to advance efforts to end the conflict. Putin and Trump described the meeting as productive, but neither announced a ceasefire, peace framework or binding agreement afterward. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.