Russia is dissatisfied with the proposals from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s team to delay Ukraine’s NATO membership for 20 years and deploy EU and UK peacekeepers in the country, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated in an interview.
“Based on various leaks and Donald Trump’s interview with Time magazine on December 12, he seems to be suggesting ‘freezing’ hostilities along the line of engagement and transferring responsibility for confronting Russia to the Europeans. We are definitely not satisfied with the proposals from the president-elect’s team to delay Ukraine’s NATO membership for 20 years and deploy a peacekeeping contingent of ‘UK and European forces’ in Ukraine,” the top diplomat highlighted.
At the same time, Lavrov pointed out that Moscow has not yet received any official signals from the U.S. regarding the Ukrainian settlement. “Until January 20 – the inauguration date – Donald Trump remains the ‘president-elect,’ and all policies on all fronts are determined by the incumbent president and his administration. For now, only they are authorized to engage with Russia on behalf of the United States. From time to time, as we are informed, such contacts occur, but there are no negotiations on Ukraine during these discussions,” the Russian foreign minister explained.
