Russia says European talks on Ukraine security an escalation and 'road to nowhere'
Mr Lavrov particularly criticised the role of European leaders who met US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine that could help to end the war.
He said those leaders, which included UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, were involved in "a fairly aggressive escalation of the situation".
"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," Lavrov told a joint news conference after meeting the foreign minister of Jordan.
US and European military planners have begun exploring post-conflict security guarantees for Ukraine, American officials and sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
Mr Lavrov said such discussions without Russia were pointless.
Mr Trump said on Monday the United States would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal to end Russia's war there.
He subsequently said he had ruled out putting US troops on the ground in Ukraine, but the US might provide air support as part of a deal to end the hostilities.
Moscow this week also restated its categorical rejection of "any scenarios involving the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine".
Mr Lavrov's comments came on the same day NATO military leaders held a video conference on Wednesday, local time, to discuss.
"Priority continues to be a just, credible and durable peace," Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone wrote in a post on X following the meeting.
On Wednesday, Poland accused Russia of provoking NATO after a likely Russian drone crashed into a field overnight.
"Once again, we are dealing with a provocation by the Russian Federation, with a Russian drone. We are dealing in a crucial moment, when discussions about peace [in Ukraine] are underway," Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
Reuters
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