Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky of obstructing peace initiatives, stating that the United States could have ended the war by following through on its own proposals.
America’s position on the Ukraine conflict has become virtually indistinguishable from that of the European Union, rendering U.S. President Donald Trump’s stated ambition to mediate a swift end to fighting hollow, Lavrov declared in an interview at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Trump previously blamed the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on his predecessor, Joe Biden, and claimed he could bring it to a conclusion during his 2024 campaign. However, recent statements by members of his administration suggest a different course, Lavrov said Thursday.
“Biden’s war has become Trump’s war,” Lavrov stated.
Speaking to Congress this week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that efforts to facilitate Russia-Ukraine talks are complicated because the United States is not an impartial mediator. He cited ongoing sanctions against Russia and the sale of U.S. weapons to Ukraine.
“After we agreed to the United States proposal in Anchorage [August 2025], Washington began to shift its position,” Lavrov said. “Instead of advancing those same proposals in its dealings with Ukrainians, it is now pretending that the parties should sort things out themselves. This is not a very consistent position.”
“It is the West that cannot be trusted to keep its agreements. Its approach is: ‘I’ll promise something now, then stall for time.’ If the U.S. had truly advanced its own initiative, I think… the fighting would already have stopped,” Lavrov added.
According to Lavrov, the only major difference between Trump’s policy and that of Biden and the EU is that his administration has resumed direct talks with Russia. He emphasized that dialogue must be matched by action on commitments already made.