Lavrov Blames US for not forcing Ukraine’s Surrender

It has been my contention since Ukraine became a captive of Russia that Moscow is not interested in peace between Ukraine and Russia. On the other hand, Russia is interested in pursuing its war against Ukraine until its 35-year independence ends with Ukraine’s return to Russian captivity.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey admitted so much, according to Reuters.

The Russo–Ukraine war continues because the United States has refused to pressure Kyiv into accepting defeat, Lavrov said in an interview with state propaganda network RT on June 4 that was monitored by Reuters.

Lavrov pushed back on recent comments by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio who said Russia had not shown readiness to make concessions in a peace deal. Lavrov referred to the Anchorage summit on August.15, 2025, and claimed that Russian führer Vladimir Putin accepted proposals from U.S. President Donald Trump on initial steps that would have halted fighting and opened the way to negotiations.

“If the United States had genuinely promoted its initiative, we would already be sitting at the negotiating table and the hostilities would have stopped,” Lavrov said. He added that, in his view, it was Kyiv that was unwilling to negotiate.

“We do not see a readiness for dialogue on the other side. We cannot find on the other side the people with whom we could hold a dialogue,” he said.

In other words, Russia would rather discuss Ukraine’s articles of capitulation from its point of view.

Lavrov also said Moscow was “ready” for peace talks but criticized comments by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte during a visit to Kyiv on June 2, when Rutte said Ukraine will one day join NATO. Lavrov accused Rutte of disregarding U.S. objections and suggested, without providing evidence that Putin and Trump had agreed to rule out Kyiv’s accession to the alliance.

“He didn’t care that the United States, in the person of President Trump, considered this unacceptable. Rutte simply declared, embracing [President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, that Ukraine will be in NATO,” Lavrov said.

As Ukraine’s closest allies and supporters concur, Ukraine will never agree to Russia’s demands for peace and capitulation. Even Russia’s so-called peace proposal is filled with danger and death for Ukraine and Ukrainians.