Elena Teslova
05 March 2026•Update: 05 March 2026
By Elena Teslova
MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday that Russia sees no reason to suspect that the negotiations on a Ukrainian settlement involving the US are a "smokescreen."
Speaking at an ambassadorial round table on Ukrainian issues in Moscow, Lavrov said this impression was formed based on the results of negotiations with the American side.
"We are also currently conducting negotiations with our American colleagues, who are assisting in the dialogue with Ukraine, and several trilateral rounds have taken place. Quite recently, both in Abu Dhabi – we are sincerely grateful to our Emirati friends – and in Geneva. At present, we see no reason to suspect that these negotiations are also a 'smokescreen,'" the minister said.
According to him, Russia made "serious compromises" during the Russian-American presidential meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, last August.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin has commented more than once that we accepted the proposals [of American leader Donald Trump and his team of negotiators in Anchorage], including those aspects of the proposals that already constitute a serious compromise for us," he said.
Despite this, Ukrainians and Europeans have made and continue to make every effort to redo and rewrite the understandings of Anchorage, he noted.
Lavrov condemned Ukrainian attacks on tankers carrying Russian energy resources and emphasized that, according to information from intelligence services, Kyiv is planning attacks on the TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines.
Lavrov also accused Washington and London of developing infrastructure in Ukraine for conducting cyber attacks.
"According to our reliable data, this infrastructure, created by the Anglo-Saxons, specialists, instructors, and military personnel from the US and Britain, is still in Ukraine and continues to engage in this criminal activity," he said.
Major Western companies, including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Elon Musk's SpaceX, openly sponsor the activities of Ukrainian hackers, the minister claimed.
Separately, Adm. Igor Kostyukov, hief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said in an interview with Russian broadcaster VGTRK that consultations regarding the next round of negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv are underway.
Meanwhile, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatyana Moskalkova said on Telegram that she held a meeting with the Ukrainian side following an exchange of war prisoners earlier today and agreed on the reunification of 10 separated families.
"In particular, today we discussed reuniting 10 families who have been separated by the current situation. These are children and parents living in Russia and Ukraine," she said.
