MOSCOW: Russia has accused the United States of no longer acting as an impartial mediator in efforts to end the war in Ukraine, while also criticising European countries for increasing defence spending and military preparedness.
Speaking to foreign diplomats in Moscow on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Washington appeared to be moving away from a neutral position and instead intensifying pressure on Russia through sanctions.
“As for the United States, judging by their actions, they appear to be abandoning any claim to the role of an objective mediator and are instead pursuing a course of escalating sanctions pressure on Russia,” Lavrov said.
His remarks came amid ongoing US-led diplomatic efforts aimed at encouraging negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Interfax that Moscow believed the United States was “drifting away from agreements reached between President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump at a summit in Alaska last year.”
Separately, President Vladimir Putin signalled Russia’s willingness to resume negotiations with Ukraine based on the framework discussed during peace talks held in Istanbul in 2022.
“Ready for peace talks with Ukraine on basis of Istanbul-2022,” Putin was quoted as saying.
Since returning to the White House in 2025, President Trump has sought to broker a settlement between Russia and Ukraine, repeatedly calling for negotiations. However, despite months of diplomatic engagement, little tangible progress has been achieved.
The conflict, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties and displaced millions of people.
Moscow has become increasingly critical of European support for Ukraine, accusing European governments of undermining efforts to reach a settlement and encouraging Kyiv to resist concessions.
At the G7 summit in France earlier this month, leaders, including President Trump, agreed to strengthen sanctions against Russia by increasing pressure on what they described as the Russian war economy, particularly targeting the energy sector.
Speaking separately on Tuesday, President Putin accused European countries of preparing for confrontation with Russia through large-scale military expansion.
“Now in the West they openly say that they are preparing for war with us, and are increasing their military, offensive budgets,” he told newly graduated military and law enforcement officers during a ceremony in Moscow.
The Russian leader also claimed that Ukrainian forces were targeting civilian infrastructure while suffering battlefield setbacks.
“Ukraine is hitting our civilian facilities as it is losing territory,” Putin said.
He added that Russian forces were close to capturing the strategically important town of Kostiantynivka and reiterated Moscow’s demand that Ukraine fully withdraw from the eastern Donbas region as part of any future settlement.
“Strikes against civilian infrastructure what are they aimed at? To destabilise society, amid such a massive onslaught, when the entire West is working for them and these drones are coming in huge numbers, to create a sense of uncertainty about the actions of the Russian armed forces,” he said.
The latest comments underscore the growing tensions between Russia and Western countries, even as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict continue.
