Russia wants role in talks over Ukraine’s security

Russia said on Wednesday attempts to resolve security issues relating to Ukraine without Moscow’s participation were a “road to nowhere”, sounding a warning to the West as it scrambles to work out guarantees for Kyiv's future protection.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov particularly criticised the role of European leaders who met US President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine that could help to end the three-and-a-half-year-old war. “We cannot agree with the fact that now it is proposed to resolve questions of security, collective security, without the Russian Federation. This will not work,” Lavrov told a joint news conference after meeting the foreign minister of Jordan.

US and European military planners have begun exploring post-conflict security guarantees for Ukraine. Lavrov said such discussions without Russia were pointless.