Russia ‘Not Happy’ With Trump’s Reported Ukraine Peace Proposals: Lavrov

Last updated on December 31st, 2024 at 08:47 am

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rebuffed peace proposals reportedly being floated by President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team, casting doubt on a quick and easy negotiation to end the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

In a Dec. 30 interview with the Russian TASS news agency, Lavrov said Russian diplomats have yet to receive any formal outreach from the Trump team, but have been disappointed by the plans he’s reportedly considering.

In an anonymously sourced Nov. 7 article, the Wall Street Journal reported Trump’s plan would be to freeze the war on the current battle lines, and put off consideration of Ukrainian entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), for at least 20 years. Russia has consistently cited opposition to Ukrainian NATO membership as part of its reason for launching the February 2022 invasion of the country.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump’s plan could also entail European international forces patrolling the demilitarized zone inside Ukraine.

“We are not happy, of course, with the proposals made by members of the Trump team to postpone Ukraine’s admission to NATO for 20 years and to station British and European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine,” Lavrov said.

The Russian foreign minister said his government has made its opposition to Ukraine’s NATO membership well known. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, by contrast, has said Ukraine needs a strong security guarantee, such as a NATO membership path, before it can agree to stop the “hot stage of the war.”

Lavrov’s comments signal a hard sell for a Trump-brokered peace deal.

Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly said he could quickly negotiate an end to the war, at times even claiming he could reach a deal within 24 hours of taking office. So far, the incoming president has shared few specifics about how he would negotiate.

Lavrov predicted Trump will face resistance from both sides of the political aisle to even begin thawing bilateral ties between the U.S. and Russia.

For now, Trump is avoiding directly sharing details of his peace plan. In a Dec. 12 interview with TIME magazine, he said to begin discussing the terms of his plan before taking office would be to make it “almost a worthless plan.”

Asked during the Dec. 12 interview whether he would abandon Ukraine, even he can’t reach a deal with Russia, Trump indicated continued support is necessary for negotiations.

“I want to reach an agreement, and the only way you’re going to reach an agreement is not to abandon,” Trump said.

Zelenskyy has indicated even with a plan to freeze the conflict on the current battle lines, he would still pursue the return of pre-war Ukrainian territory that Russia has taken. In a November interview with Sky News, Zelenskyy said he would accept a NATO membership path to freeze the current fighting, and would then try to negotiate for the return of pre-war Ukrainian territory.

Russia held a series of annexation referendums in September of 2022, with people in Russian-occupied parts of eastern Ukraine voting to become a part of Russia. While many in the international community have rejected those referendums as illegitimate, Lavrov has defended Russia’s new territorial claims.

In a Dec. 6 interview with Tucker Carlson, Lavrov indicated Russia wouldn’t accept a plan to simply freeze the current fighting, without also solidifying their territorial claims in eastern Ukraine.

“The realities on the ground are not only the line of contact, but also the changes in the Russian Constitution after referendum was held in the Donetsk and Luhansk republics and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. And they are now part of the Russian Federation, according to the Constitution. And this is a reality,” Lavrov told Carlson.