Sergey Lavrov: There are no bilateral contacts that would be indicative of preparations for a meeting between President Putin and Donald Trump

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answers to questions from Moscow. Kremlin. Putin television programme. Moscow, January 16, 2025.

Question: Did you closely follow the remarks made by future US Secretary of State yesterday? Does anything in what he had to say about the Ukraine crisis and ways to resolve it stand out to you? Do you think we can work with what he had to say?

Sergey Lavrov: I still believe that whatever we hear them say now is not an official position. In their system, most nominees for administrative positions must be approved by the Senate. During hearings, nominees are questioned, and efforts are made to elicit interesting or controversial responses from them.

The Democrats don’t want the Republicans come across as particularly convincing, because President Joe Biden said his four years in office were historically significant for restoring America’s greatness.

At this point, I’d rather not base my analysis on ideas and thoughts that we keep hearing. When Donald Trump was asked about this during an interview, he stated he intended to work hard, but first this “bloody mess” must stop. However, he also mentioned that he first needed to take office.

He will move into office in five days, and we will then see what kind of proposals will be put forward.

Question: Meanwhile, every one of them is saying that preparations for a meeting between President Putin and Donald Trump are underway.

Sergey Lavrov: Both Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov and I have addressed this earlier. There are no bilateral contacts that would be indicative of preparations for such a meeting.

If they are considering this and wish to prepare such a meeting, we will wait for them to come up with their proposals. The ball is in their court. We were not the ones to sever our ties or suspend regular consultations.

During one of his news conferences, President Vladimir Putin was asked if he was open to talks. As always, he said he was ready to engage at any time, provided serious proposals are presented. Donald Trump heard this and said at a news conference that Vladimir Putin wanted talks, and that he was ready to sit down and talk as well.

At this point, things remain fairly uncertain.

Question: Could such a meeting be organised quickly, considering the current circumstances, where almost everyone on our side is under sanctions, and those “gentlemen” have made a mess of things over the past years?

Sergey Lavrov: Those “gentlemen” have indeed made quite a mess, often hurting themselves in the process, primarily the Europeans. Making Europe “not great” is an undeclared objective of any US administration as it seeks to eliminate competitors, including Russia, China, and everyone else.

However, if there is a will, there is a way. If the political will to establish contact is there, I have no doubt that the relevant services can make it happen.

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