ISTANBUL

Russia is in favor of “truly reliable” security guarantees for Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

“As for the reports that Great Britain, France, and Germany want to create and develop collective security guarantees, we are in favor of these guarantees being truly reliable,” Lavrov told a joint press conference with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi in Moscow.

Lavrov said Kyiv's negotiating team proposed basic principles of an agreement on ending the ongoing Ukraine war and ensuring a sustainable settlement during initial peace talks in Istanbul in April 2022.

He said Kyiv's proposal included principles such as Ukraine’s refusal to join NATO or any other military blocs, as well as confirmation of Ukraine's neutral and non-nuclear status.

Russia agrees that Ukraine's security guarantees be provided on an equal basis with the participation of countries such as China, the US, UK, and France, Lavrov added.

Moscow, he said, does not agree with proposals that collective security issues be resolved without Russia, saying his country explained more than once that it does not "exaggerate its interests," but that it will ensure its "legitimate interests firmly and harshly."

“I am sure that in the West, especially in the United States, they understand perfectly well that seriously discussing issues of ensuring security without the Russian Federation is a utopia, a path to nowhere,” he added.

He recalled Moscow's observance of an "increasingly clear understanding" by the US on the need to "eliminate the root causes" of the conflict.

The Russian foreign minister reaffirmed readiness for negotiations on the Ukraine war in any format, explaining this is subject to work on the matter being "honest" and that it does not drag the US into what he claimed an "aggressive, belligerent campaign" in Europe.

Lavrov also accused the EU of "unethical attempts" to change the US position on a settlement in Ukraine.

European authorities did not immediately comment on Lavrov's remarks.

US President Donald Trump hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy and senior European leaders in the White House on Monday.

The talks in Washington, DC, came after last week's summit in Alaska between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The White House on Tuesday ruled out deploying US ground forces in Ukraine. "The president has definitively stated, US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies," spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters.