Lavrov Alleges Alaska Summit Was Deception to Arm Ukraine, Offers to Resume Talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed suspicions on June 23, 2026, that the August 2025 Alaska summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump was designed to deceive Russia and buy time for Western military support to Ukraine, rather than serve as a genuine diplomatic breakthrough. Speaking at an ambassadors' roundtable on the Ukraine situation, Lavrov stated he did not want to suspect the meeting was intended to provide time for rearming Kyiv's forces, but acknowledged that "in reality, it turned out that way."

Lavrov reaffirmed that Russia remains willing to resume negotiations with Ukraine at any moment from the point where talks previously stalled, claiming that settlement parameters were discussed and agreed upon during the Alaska meeting nearly a year prior. However, he alleged that these understandings have not been implemented, and accused the West of working to preserve Ukraine as a staging ground for continued conflict with Russia. He contended that Western goals include achieving a ceasefire to halt Russian advances, obtaining breathing room, and securing time to deliver additional modern weapons to Ukraine—all while maintaining the Zelenskyy government.

Lavrov criticized the Trump administration's continuation of Biden-era sanctions alongside implementation of additional restrictive measures, asserting that Moscow no longer considers the United States an objective mediator. He referenced Trump's earlier statement following Alaska that a long-term peace, rather than a temporary ceasefire, was needed in Ukraine, suggesting this commitment has been abandoned. Lavrov emphasized that Russia will achieve its special military operation objectives despite what he characterized as European obstructionism against Trump's administration's diplomatic inclinations.

The August 2025 Alaska summit marked the first high-level talks between Moscow and Washington since 2021 and Putin's first visit to the United States in over a decade. Despite subsequent rounds of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, Putin maintained maximalist demands requiring Ukraine's complete surrender of the Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Western diplomats reported in June 2026 that assessments had shifted, with G7 leaders and U.S. officials increasingly believing Russia cannot achieve military victory and that Ukraine's position was strengthening.