Foreign Minister Lavrov: We Are Still Ready To Hold A Russia-US Summit In Budapest

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. (Mikhail Sinitsyn / TASS)

JAKARTA - Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his party was still ready to hold a Russia-US High-Level Conference in Budapest, Hungary with contacts between the two sides continuing.

"We are still ready to hold a second Russia-US summit in Budapest, if it depends on Alaska's results," he said in an interview with Corriere della Sera Italia, as quoted by TASS November 13.

"The date has not been agreed upon. The Russian-US contact continues," said Foreign Minister Lavrov.

According to the top Russian diplomat, The Financial Times "has released the wrong version," after linking the cancellation of the summit in Budapest to a memorandum about Ukraine allegedly referred to by Russia.

He stressed that the newspaper "turns the essence and series of events to blame Moscow and mislead (US President) Donald Trump from the path he offers, namely a path to sustainable and lasting peace, instead of a direct ceasefire, in which sponsors (Vladimir) Zelensky of Europe, who are obsessed with the idea of resting for a moment and flooding the Nazi regime with weapons to continue the war against Russia, are trying to drag it into it."

"If the BBC falsifies a video of Donald Trump's speech by incorporating calls to storm the Capitol into his mouth, then the Financial Times, as we say, will lie without hesitation," he added.

Originally, President Trump and President Putin were scheduled to hold a meeting shortly after making a two-hour phone call in mid-October.

Budapest is planned to be the location of the meeting, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban saying his readiness to host.

Late last month, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov expressed confidence the two leaders would meet once the substance of the meeting was ready.

"Regarding the time and location, Budapest has indeed been publicly mentioned. However, we have emphasized from the start that its contents are really important," he continued.

"We believe that the framework created by our leaders meeting in Anchorage must be filled with specific details, agreements, and decisions. It is precisely above this foundation that we must move forward," said Ryabkov.

Ryabkov noted that a mutual understanding of how to proceed has been achieved in Alaska.

On August 15, President Putin and President Trump met at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Alaska. The conversation lasted about three hours: four eyes in the limousine of American leaders on their way to the main place of negotiations and in 3+3 format.

On October 16, President Trump, after a telephone conversation with President Putin, said they had agreed to meet in Budapest, Hungary.

On October 20, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held phone calls to discuss potential measures to implement the understanding reached during the phone talks of the two previous leaders.

Later, the meeting was postponed indefinitely. The building announced after talks between the two foreign ministers said President Trump had "not planned" to meet President Putin in person in the near future.