Moscow says negotiations are progressing, but details of Washington’s proposal remain confidential
Moscow and Washington are “moving in the right direction” toward finalizing an agreement to end the Ukraine conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with CBS News on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump has reportedly increased pressure on Kiev in recent weeks to accept Washington’s “final offer” for resolving the conflict, though the exact details of the proposal remain undisclosed. Meanwhile, his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin again on Friday.
“Well, the President of the United States believes, and I think rightly so, that we are moving in the right direction,” Lavrov told Face the Nation. “The statement by the president mentions a deal, and we are ready to reach a deal. But there are still some specific points, elements of this deal which need to be fine-tuned, and we are busy with this exact process.”
While Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow’s openness to an agreement, he declined to elaborate on the contents of the proposed deal, citing confidentiality.
“The President of the United States did not spell out the elements of the deal, so it is not appropriate for me to do this,” he added.
Trump has openly accused Vladimir Zelensky of “harming” the negotiations – and warned that he could lose the entirety of his country – after the Ukrainian leader stated that Kiev would never even discuss formally recognizing Crimea as Russian territory. The White House also accused Zelensky of engaging in megaphone diplomacy, after he publicly rejected what is believed to be one of the key points in the proposed US peace framework.
Moscow has long maintained its willingness to negotiate, but Russian officials have consistently stressed that any viable peace agreement must include formal recognition of territorial realities on the ground and address core security concerns – including Ukrainian neutrality and a prohibition on NATO forces and infrastructure on its territory.
Lavrov said Trump is “probably the only leader on Earth who recognized the need to address the root causes of this situation,” calling it one of the “signs that we are moving in the right direction.”
Both Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have indicated that the US may reconsider its role as a mediator and shift focus to other global “priorities” if progress is not made soon. According to Bild, this reportedly prompted Kiev to prepare for a “worst-case scenario” in which the US cuts off all support.
