JAKARTA - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there is no agenda for a potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Lavrov countered Zelenskyy by questioning the credibility of the Ukrainian president.
Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press with Kristen Welker," Lavrov said Putin had made it clear he was ready to meet Zelenskyy to discuss a possible deal to end the war in Ukraine, provided there was a proper agenda for the session.
But Lavrov said there is no proper agenda for the session at this time.
Both Russia and Ukraine are trying to show Donald Trump they are ready to reach a peace agreement, something the US leader has said he wants to broker.
"Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskyy when the agenda for the summit is ready, and this agenda is not ready at all," Lavrov told NBC, as reported by Reuters on Friday, August 22.
Lavrov said Russia had agreed to show flexibility on a number of issues raised by Trump at last week's US-Russia summit, but accused Ukraine of not showing the same flexibility in subsequent talks with Trump and European allies in Washington.
"He (Trump) clearly demonstrated to everyone that there are some principles that Washington believes must be accepted, including the rejection of NATO membership (for Ukraine), including the discussion of territorial issues, and Zelenskiy rejected all of them," Lavrov said.
"He even refused, as I said, to repeal the law banning the Russian language. How can we meet with someone who pretends to be a leader?" Lavrov continued.
Trump had set an August 8 deadline for Putin to agree to an end to the war or face new sanctions against Russia and its oil buyers, but instead agreed to meet with the Kremlin leader at a summit in Alaska last Friday.
Since then, Russia has remained largely silent, maintaining most of its long-standing demands while proposing a freeze on the front line in two Ukrainian regions it claims as its own, and expressing readiness to potentially cede back small portions of Ukrainian territory it controls.
Putin wants Ukraine to cede the entire eastern Donbas region, abandon its ambitions to join NATO, remain neutral, and keep Western troops out of the country, three high-ranking Kremlin sources told Reuters.
Zelensky, who insists he does not want to "gift" Russia any territory, said the Kremlin is doing everything it can to ensure a meeting between him and Putin does not take place.
He urged Ukraine's allies to impose new sanctions on Moscow if it does not show a willingness to end the war.
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