Lavrov criticises Rubio for saying no Ukraine deal was reached in Alaska

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has criticised US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for saying that no agreements on ending the war in Ukraine were reached during the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, describing the remarks as "not very sophisticated".

Source: Russian Foreign Ministry's press service, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The Russian foreign minister also said he wanted to clarify the US role in efforts to resolve Russia's war against Ukraine following Rubio's remarks.

In this context, Lavrov claimed that ahead of the Anchorage summit, US envoy Steve Witkoff had brought Moscow a proposal from President Trump for a settlement to the war.

According to Lavrov, Putin promised to give his response to the proposal during the meeting in Alaska.

"In Anchorage... Putin, looking at Witkoff, who was also present, began going through the American proposals point by point. After each point, in the presence of Trump and Secretary of State Rubio, he asked Witkoff whether he had correctly presented the ideas he had brought to Moscow before the Anchorage meeting. Each time, Witkoff answered in the affirmative," Lavrov said.

The Russian foreign minister argued that Rubio's subsequent statement that there had been no agreement has raised the question of "what exactly we mean by an agreement".

"If one side – in this case the United States – puts forward proposals on a settlement and on how to approach this crisis, and the other side agrees with those proposals, then saying there was no agreement seems, frankly, not very sophisticated," Lavrov added.

Background:

• Earlier, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov and Lavrov accused the United States of betraying the so-called spirit of Anchorage – a concept used by Moscow to describe what it claimed were understandings reached on Ukraine.
• Senior Russian officials have claimed that the US has walked away from commitments it allegedly made during the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska in August last year.
• Lavrov also recently argued that US actions indicate Washington is abandoning its claim to be an impartial mediator in efforts to resolve Russia's war against Ukraine.
• In response, Rubio stated that no agreements on Ukraine had been reached during last year's summit between Trump and Putin.
• The phrase "spirit of Anchorage" (also referred to as the "Anchorage understanding") has long served as a key element of Russian diplomacy and propaganda. The Kremlin has used the term to promote its belief that Trump supported Russia's main demand: the handing over of the whole of Donbas to Moscow in exchange for freezing the line of contact. Although the US has never officially confirmed that any such agreement existed, Russia has repeatedly used the phrase to create the impression that Washington accepted these terms.

Subscribe on Patreon to back our journalism long-term.