Russia rejects making political concessions in peace agreement with Ukraine

O russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said today that Moscow will examine the US proposal for a peace agreement with Ukraine, to be presented by emissary Steve Witkoff, but rejected political concessions.

“ We will see what they offer. If they offer us something that benefits us economically and financially, why not? But this must be done without political concessions on our part,” the Russian minister said at a meeting with future diplomats.

The special envoy of the Trump administration will travel on Wednesday to Moscow to meet with Putin, after meeting with the Ukrainian President.

Lavrov, quoted by the Russian agencies, said that in the current process Russia can only trust itself.

He also ensured that Moscow is ready to re-establish relations with “those who are willing to do the same honestly”.

However, Lavrov pointed out that Russia expects no miracle from the United States, which remains “at best” competitors in the Slavic country.

The Ukrainian President meets today in Norway with the White House special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in an attempt to relaunch negotiations with Russia and at a time of tension between Washington and Kiev.

The meeting between Zelensky and Witkoff – which also includes the Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Store, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb – takes place at the headquarters of the Norwegian Government on the occasion of the official visit of the Ukrainian Head of State to the country.

According to the Norwegian NTB agency, the other special White House envoy, Jared Kushner, as well as “other European allies of Ukraine” will attend the meetings without specifying which ones.

“ We have a dialogue with the Ukrainians, with the Americans, we have contact with our European partners and allies, but I would say that all of this just came up a few days ago,” said the Norwegian Prime Minister this morning.

With regard to the increased tensions between Washington and Kiev, he stressed that, in his opinion, it is necessary to take seriously what the American President, Donald Trump, said, but also to take into account that the United States is immersed in an election campaign for the mid-term elections.

“ We are maintaining all contacts that can help bring peace,” Zelensky said in a social media message shortly after his landing at Gardermoen airport.

The Ukrainian leader also met the king of Norway, Haakon VII, who thanked the Norwegian people for their support of Kiev.

On Monday, the Ukrainian leader spoke to Pope Leo XIV about the situation in Oleshky, after the Vatican leader had a telephone conversation at the end of last week with Putin on the same subject.

In the aftermath of the conversation, the Ukrainian Head of State thanked Leo XIV for his support and also discussed security challenges and threats including “the periodic lack of warnings by partners on attacks with Russian ballistic missiles”.

On Sunday, in an interview with the American NBC channel, Zelensky said that the sharing of information “was blocked for some time and then unlocked by the American side,” something denied by Washington.

The United States and Ukraine have in recent days experienced a moment of great tension, with Ukrainians reporting that Washington has limited the transmission of security information, which has caused embarrassment in the use of the Starlink satellite system, owned by the millionaire Elon Musk, owner of SpaceX.

Also today, the Ukrainian President argued that Ukraine should attend a possible meeting between the leaders of the United States, Russia and China, after the possibility of this trilateral meeting was advanced by the US leader.

“ If this is about Ukraine and our future, it can only be acceptable if we are present at the negotiating table,” Volodymyr Zelensky said during a joint press conference in Oslo, Norway, with Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, after a meeting between the three and the White House special envoy Steve Witkoff.