After Russia's Vladimir Putin rejected President Donald Trump's warning of "severe consequences" if a ceasefire was not reached following Friday's summit in Alaska, Moscow is now denying claims it agreed to Ukraine security guarantees without its consent.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow must have a veto over any Western security guarantees for Ukraine, warning that talks excluding Russia are a "road to nowhere."
"We will safeguard our legitimate interests in a firm and harsh manner," Lavrov said. "Seriously discussing issues of ensuring security without the Russian Federation is a utopia and a path to nowhere."
Lavrov declared Wednesday that Russia "cannot agree" to collective security arrangements without its input, think-tank UnderstandingWar.Org reported in its latest "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment."
The demand would effectively give the Kremlin power to block Western defense commitments to Kyiv.
Trump is seeking a formal meeting that includes Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which the topic of recognizing Russian land acquisition and a ceasefire contingent on Western military assistance would be discussed.
Lavrov dismissed the likelihood of any such meeting and suggested Putin accepted merely to "raise the level of its representation at talks with Ukraine," The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said Russia will not bend to any agreement that has been privately negotiated between the U.S. and European allies.
"Moscow's hope is that the meeting between Putin and Trump has established their personal rapport and that substantive negotiations over Ukraine will be lengthy, buying Russia time to continue pushing Ukraine on the front line," he said.
Trump has suggested he is willing to use U.S. airpower to support European forces in Ukraine but promised not to commit American ground troops, yet he indicated that Europeans are willing to take that step.
"When it comes to security, they are willing to put people on the ground," Trump said in an interview Monday. "We're willing to help them with things, especially probably, if you talk about by air, because there is nobody has the kind of stuff we have."
It remains to be seen if Lavrov's comments indicated Moscow is backpedaling on the understanding reached in Alaska as interpreted by the Trump administration or if the Americans truly understood the Russians' intentions.
"I agree with President Trump," Putin said. "He said today that Ukraine's security must be ensured by all means. Of course we are ready to work on this."
Europeans have been more skeptical of Putin's real intentions. French President Emmanuel Macron told NBC News earlier this week, "When I look at the situation and the facts, I don't see President Putin very willing to get peace now."
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.