Foreign Minister Lavrov: Russia is ready to contact the new US administration

According to TASS news agency on November 14, Russia is ready to contact the US under the Donald Trump administration, the "ball" is on the US side. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an interview with journalist Marina Kim for the New World project.

“Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club that we are always ready to contact the US administration. We will not interrupt this process. The ball is now in the US side,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, stressing that Russia has no expectations from the new US administration. Instead, Moscow will evaluate Washington’s concrete steps. “There will be no expectations or guesses,” the Russian Foreign Minister noted.

In addition, answering a question about organizing negotiations with Russia to resolve the Ukraine conflict, Mr. Lavrov said that this issue will not be decided by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Asked about the possibility of a peace deal with the current Ukrainian government, the Russian Foreign Minister reiterated President Putin's statement.

“President Putin has repeatedly said that we have never refused to negotiate. It is clear that this will not be decided by Mr. Zelensky. They are calling us to negotiate and are trying to turn things upside down, saying that Ukraine wants to negotiate, but Russia refuses. President Putin has repeatedly said that at least let Mr. Zelensky cancel the decree prohibiting negotiations with Russia,” Mr. Lavrov said.

The New York Times on November 13 quoted sources as saying that, compared to the territorial issue, the issue of security guarantees would be more important for Ukraine in the event of “potential negotiations” to resolve the conflict.

“The territorial issue is extremely important, but it is still a secondary issue in ensuring security,” the New York Times quoted an unnamed senior Ukrainian official.

According to the New York Times, this view of Kiev may be linked to the victory of Mr. Donald Trump in the recent US presidential election. Roman Kostenko, secretary of the Security, Defense and Intelligence Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament, said: "Negotiations must be based on guarantees."

Another senior Ukrainian official said Kiev wanted to ensure that the ceasefire would not jeopardize the country’s economic recovery, adding that Ukraine was also concerned about the “width of the demilitarized zone.”