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MOSCOW — Russia’s top diplomat said that Moscow is open for talks with President-elect Donald Trump and praised him for attacking NATO’s plan to embrace Ukraine.
Any prospective peace talks should involve broader arrangements for security in Europe, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at his annual news conference Tuesday.
Lavrov specifically praised Trump’s comments earlier this month in which he said that NATO’s plans to open its doors to Ukraine had led to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Trump said Russia had it “written in stone” that Ukraine’s membership in NATO should never be allowed, but the Biden administration had sought to expand the military alliance to Russia’s doorstep. Trump noted: “I could understand their feelings about that.”
Trump’s comments echoed Moscow’s rhetoric which has described its “special military operation” in Ukraine launched in February 2022 as a response to planned NATO membership for Kyiv. Ukraine and its allies have denounced Russia’s action as an unprovoked act of aggression.
“NATO did exactly what it had promised not to do, and Trump said that,” Lavrov emphasized.
“It marked the first such candid acknowledgment not only from the U.S. but any Western leader that NATO had lied when they signed numerous documents.,” he said.
The West has dismissed that assessment.
Before the conflict, Russia had demanded a legal guarantee that Ukraine be denied NATO entry, even while knowing that the alliance has never excluded potential membership for any European country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged his Western allies to invite Kyiv to join NATO, or, at the very least, offer comprehensive security guarantees that would prevent any future Russian attacks. The alliance’s 32 member countries say Ukraine will join one day, but not until the fighting ends.
Trump has reaffirmed his intention to broker peace in Ukraine, declaring earlier this month that “Putin wants to meet” and that such a meeting is being set up. In the past, he has criticized U.S. military aid for Ukraine and even vowed repeatedly that he could end the conflict in a single day if elected. In his latest estimate, he said it will take 100 days.
Lavrov claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly declared his openness to talks with Trump, adding that Moscow looks forward to hearing Trump’s view on Ukraine after he takes office.
Lavrov also hailed comments by Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, who said Sunday it’s unrealistic to expect that Ukraine could drive Russian forces “from every inch of Ukrainian soil.”
“The very fact that people have increasingly started to mention the realities on the ground deserves welcome,” Lavrov said during his annual news conference in Moscow.
In its final days, the Biden administration is providing Kyiv with as much military support as it can, aiming to put Ukraine in the strongest position possible for any future negotiations. The U.S. also introduced new sanctions on Russia’s oil industry.
Lavrov was asked about Trump’s comments when he refused to rule out using military force or economic pressure to make Greenland — a semiautonomous territory of Denmark — a part of the United States.
Lavrov emphasized that the people of Greenland must be asked what they want.
“For a start, it’s necessary to listen to the Greenlanders,” Lavrov said, noting that they have of right for self-determination, which wasn’t an issue for Russia in Ukraine.
