Russia Rejects EU Participation in Peace Talks Unless It Ends Military Aid

The European Union’s role in resolving the conflict in Ukraine is being ruled out by Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said, according to the Russian state media outlet TASS. He claimed that if Europe seeks to participate in future negotiations, it must halt all arms supplies to Kyiv’s defense.

Grushko accused the EU of aiming to “strategically defeat Russia,” which, in his opinion, disqualifies European countries from playing any role in future negotiations in talks to end the war in Ukraine.

“If Europe genuinely wants to contribute to the resolution of the conflict, the solution is straightforward: cease all military and other forms of support for the Kyiv regime,” Grushko said.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that European countries would eventually “beg” for a ceasefire in Ukraine to allow for its rearmament. Under such circumstances, Europe should not be part of the negotiations he said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that in any event it was premature to discuss the possible participation of the EU in future negotiations regarding Ukraine.

Earlier Kyiv Post reported Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said the conversation “went well” with his US counterparts in Riyadh as the two parties wrapped up the four-hour meeting that kicked off the first step towards allegedly ending the war caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Ushakov, attending the talks alongside Lavrov, who described the talks as “a serious conversation on all issues” but said it is unclear if Moscow’s and Washington’s positions had found any common ground.

“We discussed and outlined our principled positions and agreed that separate teams of negotiators will be in touch on this topic in due course,” Ushakov said.

“It is hard to say that they are getting closer,” Ushakov told a Russian television station, according to AFP.

The meeting, organized after US leader Donald Trump’s phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, marks the first high-level meeting between US and Russian officials since the full-scale invasion in February 2022. Both sides were expected to lay the groundwork in preparation for future peace talks in Riyadh.

Both Washington and Moscow ruled out Ukrainian and European participation at this initial stage, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky having said he would not accept the results of any negotiation that excluded Kyiv.