EU still blind to what caused Ukraine conflict – Lavrov

The US is seeking a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict, in contrast to the EU and UK, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

Russia has said any long-term settlement with Ukraine would only be viable if it addresses the “root causes” of the crisis, including Kiev’s aspirations to join NATO.

During a press conference on Friday, Lavrov said US President Donald Trump “every time” stresses his desire to stop the fighting between Moscow and Kiev.

“We see that, unlike [Western] Europe… which completely ignores the root causes of the current situation, in the US there is a desire to get to the bottom of this issue,” he stated.

The foreign minister noted that “President Trump has repeatedly said in public that drawing Ukraine into NATO – despite many years of warnings from Moscow against doing so – was a mistake that probably played a decisive role in the current events.”

Washington “also understands that a return to Ukraine’s 1991 borders, which is still being demanded by [Ukraine’s Vladimir] Zelensky, is impossible,” Lavrov added.

Earlier on Friday, Axios reported that Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, had traveled to Russia to hold a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later confirmed that Witkoff had arrived in the country, but added that there would be a separate announcement if talks between Putin and Witkoff take place.

According to services monitoring air traffic, a plane associated with Witkoff traveled from Florida to St. Petersburg overnight. Putin has “a regional trip” to an undisclosed location on his schedule for Friday.

If a meeting is held, it would be the third between Putin and Witkoff since Trump initiated the normalization of relations with Moscow and reiterated plans to find a settlement to the Ukraine conflict following his inauguration in January.