Lavrov: European leaders clash with Trump’s stance on Ukraine’s NATO, EU membership

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has highlighted a stark contrast between the approaches of European leaders and that of US President Donald Trump regarding Ukraine's potential accession to NATO and the European Union.

In an interview with Channel One Russia, Lavrov pointed out that European nations are currently grappling with numerous challenges, which he believes partly explains their steadfast support for Ukraine, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

"Perhaps this partly explains why they are so vehemently demanding not to give up on Ukraine, insisting on arming Ukraine, and even refusing to entertain the idea that Ukraine should not join NATO and the EU," Lavrov stated.

"In other words, they are directly contradicting the Trump administration, which, through President Trump himself, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, has clearly stated that preliminary discussions are underway for a final settlement, and that NATO should be forgotten."

Moving forward, Lavrov suggested that clear security guarantees for Moscow, particularly concerning the Black Sea initiative, would require a direct order from Washington to Kyiv. The Russian minister expressed confidence that this message has been understood by the Americans.

"We will need clear guarantees, and these guarantees, given the unfortunate experience of previous agreements solely with Kyiv, can only come as a result of a direct order from Washington to Zelenskyy and his team to act accordingly. It seems to me that our American partners have understood this signal. They realize that only Washington can achieve positive results in stopping terrorist attacks, halting shelling of civilian infrastructure, and protecting energy infrastructure unrelated to the military-industrial complex," Lavrov emphasised. 

On a different note, Lavrov stressed Russia's desire for stability in global markets, particularly in the grain and fertilizer sectors.

"We want the grain and fertilizer markets to be predictable, and we don't want anyone to try to push us out of these markets," he said.

Lavrov also took the opportunity to criticize Western interference in the free market, noting that while current prices are not catastrophic, they could be significantly lower if the West refrained from disrupting market forces.

By Naila Huseynova