Russia Says Excluding Moscow From Security Talks Is ‘Road to Nowhere’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that ’seriously discussing security issues without the Russian Federation is a utopia, it’s a road to nowhere.’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a press conference in Moscow on Feb. 27, 2024. Maxim Shipenkov /POOL / AFP via Getty Images

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Aug. 20 that attempts to resolve security issues relating to Ukraine without including Moscow were a “road to nowhere.”

Lavrov’s comments came two days after U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and various European leaders for discussions about security guarantees for Ukraine.

On Aug. 20, Lavrov said: “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.

“I am sure that in the West and above all in the United States they understand perfectly well that seriously discussing security issues without the Russian Federation is a utopia, it’s a road to nowhere.”

Lavrov, who is 75 and has been Russia’s foreign minister since 2004, is a loyal ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

NATO Virtual Meeting

NATO defense chiefs are holding a virtual meeting on Aug. 20, during which they are expected to discuss possible future security guarantees for Kyiv that could facilitate a peace agreement.

Italian Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of NATO’s military committee, said on X that defense chiefs from all of the alliance’s 32 members would hold a video conference.

Dragone said U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s supreme allied commander of Europe, would take part, his first participation in a military committee meeting, to update them on “the current security environment.”

Trump met with Putin on Aug. 15 in Alaska for their first direct talks.

Afterward, while signaling progress, Trump said. “There’s no deal until there’s a deal.”

At the post-meeting press conference, Putin said that Russia would continue to seek to “eliminate all the primary roots” of the conflict in Ukraine and to address “fundamental threats to [Russian] security.”

Russia wants, as part of a peace deal, a guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO.

Moscow is also unwilling to accept troops from NATO countries to act as peacekeepers on the ground in Ukraine if a cease-fire is agreed.

Trump on Aug. 19 ruled out sending U.S. troops to Ukraine.

In an Aug. 13 statement, countries in the “coalition of the willing”—those prepared to help police a future peace agreement—said that “robust and credible security guarantees” are essential for Ukraine to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

On Aug. 18, Trump hosted Zelenskyy at the White House, along with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and other European leaders.

Afterward, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America. Everyone is very happy about the possibility of peace for Russia/Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy Demands Security Guarantees

“We need strong security guarantees to ensure a truly secure and lasting peace,” Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post on Aug. 20.

He was speaking after Ukraine was hit by several Russian missile and drone strikes overnight.

Ukrainian authorities said attacks on civilian areas in Sumy and Odesa injured 15 people, including three small children.

Zelenskyy said the Russian attacks “only confirm the need for pressure on Moscow, the need to introduce new sanctions and tariffs until diplomacy works to its full potential.”

Trump is trying to bring an end to the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine, which began when Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 in what he called a “special military operation.”

On Mar. 7, 2022, Lavrov said in a statement published by the Russian Embassy in London on X, “The goal of Russia’s special military operation is to stop any war that could take place on Ukrainian territory or that could start from there.”

Macron has suggested that a meeting involving Trump, Putin, and Zelenskyy could take place in Switzerland, which has offered to host such a summit.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.