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Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Moscow is open to discussions with the United States due to the clear "difference in approach" by United States President Donald Trump compared to his predecessors.

 

Unlike the United Kingdom and European Union countries, “the Trump administration, according to Lavrov, is trying to get to the bottom of the issue and, most importantly, understand the root cause” of the Ukraine conflict.

 

Lavrov blamed the United States administration and the European Union for orchestrating and funding what he termed an “anti-constitutional coup” in Kiev in 2014, which he said had triggered the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine.

 

“Trump has repeatedly said that the colossal mistake that led to the current events in Ukraine was the Biden administration’s decision to drag Ukraine into NATO,” Lavrov added.

 

Asked whether US negotiators can be trusted, Lavrov remarked that Moscow should “not brush off” Trump’s overtures.

 

Referring to the first round of negotiations held in Saudi Arabia in February, Lavrov noted that the US delegation had acknowledged that “other countries have their own national interests that do not always coincide with the national interests of the United States.”

 

He further stated that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz had made it clear that Trump prioritises a pragmatic, “common-sense” approach to global affairs.

 

Lavrov added that the message Moscow received from Washington was that “when their national interests don’t align, Russia and the US, as responsible players on the world stage, must do everything possible to prevent those contradictions from escalating into confrontation.”

 

“We know perfectly well what a mutually beneficial deal looks like—something we have never rejected—and what a deal designed to lure us into another trap looks like,” the minister said.

 

According to Lavrov, Trump pursued direct talks with Russia in February and revoked all military assistance to Ukraine following a reported falling-out between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump, along with Senator JD Vance, at the Oval Office.

 

Although Trump had pledged to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, there was reportedly a cold response from Kiev, where leaders allegedly rejected the proposal as it was perceived to involve an unacceptable territorial compromise.