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The Russian Foreign Minister has rebuked CBS for falsely suggesting that Moscow is not willing to ‘make any concessions on anything’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. ©  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

In an interview with CBS, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rebuked the network for suggesting Moscow is not ready to make concessions to end the Ukraine conflict. He stressed that Russia is committed to seeking a “balance of interests” with the US and Ukraine. Lavrov added that Russia is always ready for “serious and respectful” negotiations, unlike Kiev, which he accused of “talking through the media.”

The top diplomat said talks with Washington are “moving in the right direction” because US president Donald Trump had recognized NATO’s mistakes and the violation of Russian rights in Ukraine.

He welcomed Trump’s ceasefire plan but demanded firm guarantees Ukraine would not use it to rebuild its military.

Responding to US accusations that Moscow has space-based weapons, Lavrov rejected the claims as false. He said that Russia has long promoted a UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons in outer space, which the US has refused to support.

Lavrov called Crimea being part of Russia a “done deal” and praised Trump for acknowledging it. 

Here is the CBS interview in full:

Question: Good morning, Minister Lavrov. I want to ask you about what happened in Kiev. There was a large Russian attack on that capital city about 1 o’clock in the morning. President Trump has said publicly the Russian strikes are not necessary and very bad timing. “Vladimir, stop”, was his quote. What made it worth killing civilians when Ukraine says it’s ready for a ceasefire?

Sergey Lavrov: We only target military goals or civilian sites used by the military. President Putin expressed this for so many times, and this is not different this time as well. We never consciously target civilian sites, unlike the Zelensky regime.

Question: So was this an intentional attack then, not a mistake?

Sergey Lavrov: If this was a target used by the Ukrainian military, the Ministry of Defense, the commanders in the field have the right to attack them.

Question: So just to be clear, when the President of the United States says, “Vladimir, stop,” is this a rejection of that request, or was the assessment that because of what you say regarding the concerns that this loss of civilian life made it worth it?

Sergey Lavrov: Well, I can assure you that the target attacked was not something absolutely civilian like a TV center in Belgrade in 1999. This was an intentional attack against civilian target.

 

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 Lavrov’s interview on US talks and global affairs (FULL TEXT)

In our case, we only target those sites which are used by the military. And regarding the ceasefire and regarding the call to stop, President Putin immediately supported President Trump’s proposal a few weeks ago to establish a 30-day ceasefire provided we do not repeat mistakes of the last 10 years when deals were signed, and then Ukraine would violate those deals with the support and with encouragement from Biden administration and from European countries.

This was the fate of the deal of February 2014. Then this was the fate of the Minsk agreements, and this was the fate of the deal reached on the basis of Ukrainian proposals in Istanbul in April 2022.

So President Putin said, “Ceasefire, yes, but we want the guarantees that the ceasefire would not be used again to beef up Ukrainian military, and that the supplies of arms should stop.”

Question: Ukraine accepted on March 11th that idea of a US-brokered ceasefire without preconditions. You’re saying the preconditions are a negotiation to end something else?

Sergey Lavrov: No, it is not a precondition. It’s the lessons learned after at least three times. The deals, similar to the one which we are discussing now, were broken by the Ukrainian regime with the strong support from European capitals and Biden administration.

If you want a ceasefire just to continue supply arms to Ukraine, so what is your purpose? You know what Kaja Kallas and Mark Rutte said about the ceasefire and the settlement? They bluntly stated that they can support only the deal which at the end of the day will make Ukraine stronger, would make Ukraine a victor. So if this is the purpose of the ceasefire, I don’t think this is what President Trump wants. This is what Europeans, together with Zelensky, want to make out of President Trump’s initiative.

Question: Will Russia continue targeting Kiev despite President Trump saying, “Vladimir, stop?”

Sergey Lavrov: You’re not listening to me. We will continue to target the sites used by the military of Ukraine by some mercenaries from foreign countries and by instructors whom the Europeans officially sent to help target Russian civilian sites.

If you take a look at the situation in the Kursk region of Russia, for example, there is no single military target for the last six months which the Ukrainians would fire at.

And there was also a proposal by President Trump immediately supported by President Putin to have a one-month moratorium on the attacks on energy infrastructure. We never violated this commitment of President Putin. And Ukrainians violated what Zelensky seemed to support several hundred times. And I sent to Marco Rubio and to the United Nations the list of those attacks. It’s really very, very telling and eloquent.

Question: Ukraine disputes that, but putting that aside, I want to ask you about what President Trump said on Wednesday. The President of the United States says he thinks the US and Russia have a deal, let’s get it done. Does President Putin agree?

Sergey Lavrov: Well, the President of the United States believes, and I think rightly so, that we are moving in the right direction. The statement by the President mentions a deal, and we are ready to reach a deal, but there are still some specific points, elements of this deal which need to be fine-tuned, and we are busy with this exact process. And the President of the United States did not spell out the elements of the deal, so it is not appropriate for me to do this.

Question:  But he did say there was a deal, and that he was sending his envoy, Steve Witkoff, to meet with Vladimir Putin Friday in Russia. Is that meeting still happening, and should we expect a deal this week?

Sergey Lavrov: Well, you don’t trust the word of the President of the United States?

Question: I was asking your President’s word. What will he tell the US envoy? 

Sergey Lavrov: We continue our contacts with the American side on the situation in Ukraine. There are several signs that we are moving in the right direction, first of all, because President Trump is probably the only leader on Earth who recognized the need to address the root causes of this situation. When he said that it was a huge mistake to pull Ukraine into NATO, and this was a mistake by the Biden administration, and he wants to rectify this.

And Marco Rubio expressed yesterday, I think, also the assessment that the American team now is getting a better understanding of the Russian position and of the root causes of this situation. One of these root causes, apart from NATO and creation of direct military threats to Russia just on our borders, another one is the rights of the national minorities in Ukraine. Everything Russian, media, education, culture, anything was prohibited by law in Ukraine. And to get out of this crisis, you cannot just forget about human rights.

Whenever we discuss Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, anything, American negotiators put on top human rights. They have claims in this regard to China, to us, to anybody. But whenever Europeans and other Western nations speak about Ukraine, nobody can mumble the words human rights. Just nobody.

On the contrary, what Ursula von der Leyen and other people in Brussels and in Europe say that Ukraine is defending the European values. So one of these values is cancelling the Russian language. Imagine if Israel cancelled Arabic language in Palestine. Just imagine.

Question: You mentioned that the US and Russia need to work on some of these fine points of a deal.

Sergey Lavrov: Yeah, you want the fine points to be spelled out?

Question: Well, of course, I’d love that, but this is not the way. European sources say that the US proposal is really just kind of a list of bullet points. Does Russia have details, the details you need at this point?

Sergey Lavrov: Look, we are really polite people. And unlike some others, we never discuss in public what is being discussed in negotiations. Otherwise, negotiations are not serious.

To ask for somebody’s opinion regarding the substance, go to Zelensky. He is happy to talk to anybody through media, even to President Trump. He presents his claims.

We are serious. We are serious people. And we consider serious proposals. We make serious proposals. And this is a process which is not supposed to be public until the end of it.

Question: OK. So no deal is imminent?

Sergey Lavrov: I didn’t say this. Now I understand, by the way, why you wanted to get brief answers to your questions. You want some slogans to be in the broadcast.

Question: No, the President of the United States said there was a deal with Russia. So I wanted to ask Russia if there is a deal with the United States.

Sergey Lavrov: Well, we made our comments on this statement. The negotiations continue. And until the end of the negotiations, we cannot disclose what it is about.

Question: OK. The National Security Advisor Mike Walz said last month that President Trump is asking for thousands of Ukrainian children who were taken into Russia to be released now as part of what he called “confidence building measures.” What steps has Russia taken to meet Mr. Trump’s request?

Sergey Lavrov: Look, long before the request coming from Washington, we have been addressing the issue of the fate of the kids who during the conflict found themselves outside their homes, outside their families. Most of these kids were attending orphanage. And as soon as and we announce whatever details we have about those kids, and as soon as relevance, I mean, the parents or other relevant relatives make themselves available, they are getting the kids back. This has been the process for the last almost three years between the ombudsmen of Russia and Ukraine.

Question: So there’s no new release of thousands of Ukrainian children at the request of President Trump?

Sergey Lavrov: No, there was nobody. Nobody knows why some experts advised the President about thousands of Ukrainian children.

Every now and then, once in two or three months, we organize exchanges with Ukrainians with the help of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, who do not, you know, make any noise about what they’re doing. They just do something which we are participating in a very constructive manner, bringing kids back to their parents or relatives.

Question: But what “confidence building measures” can Russia offer now, particularly after this strike in Kiev, where the President of the United States is saying, “Vladimir, stop.” How do you convince the United States that Russia is actually serious about peace?

Sergey Lavrov: Well, “confidence building measures” have been plentiful in the last 10 years. I mentioned a deal in February…

Question: That strike was overnight.

Sergey Lavrov: You want a brief answer, right? As I understand from your initial words, or you want an answer which is explaining the situation?

The proposal by President Trump on 30 days moratorium on the strikes against the energy infrastructure was supported by President Putin and observed strictly. This was a confidence building measure against the policy and action taken by the Zelensky regime. As I said several hundred times civilian energy infrastructure was struck.

Another confidence building measure was the proposal of President Trump and his team to resume the deal on Black Sea. And the delegations met in Istanbul, in Riyadh. The delegations exchanged the views how this can be implemented in practical terms. And the proposals made by Russia are being considered by the United States. There are many other examples about confidence building measure.

But if you believe that it’s only Ukraine who is interested in confidence building, I think a short answer would be this is an illusion.

 

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Question: Do you take President Trump at his word when he says if Russia is unable to make a deal on ending the bloodshed in Ukraine, he’ll put secondary tariffs I think you mean sanctions there on oil coming out of Russia. Or do you think that at this point, the relationship between Russia and America has been rebuilt and that won’t happen?

Sergey Lavrov: Well, I cannot comment on what you think President Trump meant when he said something.

Question: What do you think he meant when he said secondary tariffs on oil coming out of Russia?

Sergey Lavrov: Well, we hear many things coming from President Trump. President Trump said that he’s sick and tired of the situation in this settlement, especially yesterday when he commented the statements by Zelensky. And President Trump has his own proposals and has his own style in mentioning those proposals in his public speeches.

We concentrate, as I said, on the real negotiations which President Trump supports and instructed his people to continue to engage in these negotiations. I’m sorry, the answer was a bit longish, but it’s difficult to explain otherwise.

Question: So I asked about the threat of sanctions or secondary tariffs, because you recently said in an interview, if you had to personally pick sides, you would keep the existing sanctions in place on Russia. You said you’ve restructured the economy to be self-sufficient. And there is a growing fear that, quote, cunning Americans will lift sanctions all of a sudden to flood our market with services and technologies. So if that’s the case, why should the United States consider lifting sanctions at all?

Sergey Lavrov: Why do you ask me? You just quoted my statement, and this statement is clear for me and clear to all those who read it. If you have questions to the American side, how they treat the situation, it is not the right address to raise it with me.

Question: So you want to keep sanctions in place. Is that really the Russian position?

Sergey Lavrov: I don’t want to re-explain what I explained, I think, in quite a clear manner. And you quoted, I think, very close to the real content. Yeah, but it was a bit longer than normally you prefer, I know.

Question: Well, back in February. Though one of your colleagues, Kirill Dmitriev, who runs the Sovereign Wealth Fund and has been active in the diplomacy with the United States, said something a bit different. That’s why I’m asking for clarification, because he said there is the expectation that American companies would return to the Russian market in the second half of 2025.

Sergey Lavrov: Well, the president of Russia commented upon this situation. He said that we have nothing against American companies, but those companies who decided to leave their business in Russia might find that their place has been occupied already by Russian or other foreign investors. And in this case, we would not make any decisions which would discriminate those who came to invest in Russia instead of Americans. If American companies would like to come to a place which is not yet occupied, if they want to propose a project, a new project on top of the previous business ties, of course, we will look into this. And if we find balance of our interests, I think it would be only natural to get into business together.

Question: Well, what areas has the US offered to lift sanctions on? Because it wouldn’t be possible for many American companies to enter the Russian market right now under the existing sanctions.

Sergey Lavrov: It is up to them to decide.

Question: So no offer has been made?

Sergey Lavrov: No. How can we offer something? In a situation when...

Well, the United States clearly tells us that they are interested in doing business together. We never reject business proposals provided they are based on the equal opportunities and the treatment of each other and lead to a balance of interest.

Specific proposals which are being mentioned in the media, I cannot comment upon. This is not serious. We are not acting like the people in Kiev who talk to the world through the media, including talking to presidents of great countries.

Question: So if I understand you correctly, you neither fear sanctions nor want them lifted?

Sergey Lavrov: Look, you quoted my statement and you quoted it right. That’s my position.

Question: Okay. So when President Trump threatens new sanctions, that’s not a concern?

Sergey Lavrov: You’re asking this for the third time. This was a brief answer, by the way.

Question: You are being brief and direct on that part. I was asking on the sanctions for clarity and directness. Broadly speaking, when you look at what’s happening in the battle space in Ukraine right now, analysts say about 18% of Ukrainian territory is under the control of Russian forces. US intelligence says battlefield trends are in Russia’s favour. So if that’s the case, why should the US believe Russia is serious about ending the war if everything is in your favour?

Sergey Lavrov: Well, we judge by the reaction of our American colleagues to what we tell them. And this is being done during negotiations. They are confidential, as any serious negotiation. And they know our position. And as I quoted Marco Rubio, he publicly said that now they better understand the Russian position and the reasons for what is going on. And he said that nobody in Washington lifted a finger to do the same to try to understand Russia during the Biden administration.

And this implies that the dialogue continues, that the dialogue is supported by the United States, and I reiterate that it is supported by the Russian Federation, and this dialogue continues.

Question: So President Trump said he expects to meet soon with Vladimir Putin. What’s an acceptable time and location? Why should they meet?

Sergey Lavrov: Look, the presidents are masters of their own destiny and of their own schedule.

I heard President Trump say that he is planning to be somewhere mid-May, and that after that he would be suggesting some dates. I cannot add anything else.

Question: Right, he said he was asked about meeting with Vladimir Putin specifically in Saudi Arabia, and he said most likely not. That’s in mid-May, but shortly thereafter.

Sergey Lavrov: You said the same thing as I did.

Question: Right.

Sergey Lavrov: So we read the same newspapers and watch the same channels on TV.

Question: Right, but I can’t pick up the phone and call Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, like you can. What plans are you making for the two to meet?

Sergey Lavrov: Look, I hope your listeners understand very well that it is not ethical for a foreign minister to prejudge, to presume what presidents might or might not discuss.

Question: But you think it would be good for the two leaders to meet soon? Do you expect that Rubio and Witkoff is negotiated?

Sergey Lavrov: We’re always in favor of meeting with people who are ready for a dialogue. President Putin repeated this thousands of times.

When we met in Riyadh, together with President Putin’s Foreign Policy Advisor Yury Ushakov, with Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz, the American colleagues clearly stated that the US policy is based firmly on US national interests. They understand that the Russian policy led by President Putin is also based on Russian national interests, and that it is the responsibility of great powers to make sure that whenever those national interests do not coincide, and this is in most of the cases, this difference should not be allowed to degenerate into confrontation. And that’s what dialogue is for.

But they also added that when the national interests of two countries or more countries coincide, it would be stupid to miss an opportunity to translate this coincidence into some material mutually beneficial projects. This is absolutely our position.

Question: You know that President Trump is coming up on 100 days in office, and he has made clear his patience is wearing thin with the diplomacy here. Do you expect the US and Russia to continue to talk after these potential peace talks fall apart? I mean, is the rebuilding of the relationship so significant now that you think it could withstand the peace talks in Ukraine falling apart?

Sergey Lavrov: First, Russia is always available for a dialogue. So you have to address the question to the American side. Second, you prejudge the current process by saying that eventual collapse of the talks.

We concentrate on doing business, not on thinking, you know, about failures or victories, about anything. Unless you concentrate on the facts, that’s what we do. You cannot be serious about what you are doing.

 

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Question: Well, President Trump and Secretary Rubio said that the window was closing, that time is running out here. That’s not my opinion. That’s what they said.

Sergey Lavrov: No, wait a second. I just quoted Marco Rubio, who yesterday said about better understanding of the Russian position. So maybe you missed that. Question: Well, he also said a decision in days needed to be made and that the US has other things to focus on.

Sergey Lavrov: No. We understand the impatience. Because in American culture, you create expectations, and you ignite tension around those expectations. This does not help to do real politic.

But in our case, as I said, we are always ready for dialogue, ready for negotiations, and we would not, you know, begin by banking on a failure. This would be a characteristic of bad dealmakers, inexperienced dealmakers.

Question: Others in the Russian government have proposed that the US and Russia could work together in the Arctic. Are there specific areas of discussion for cooperating right now?

Sergey Lavrov: You always want me to disclose things which might be discussed by respective officials of Russia and the United States, by those who are responsible for trade, economic cooperation, investments, and so on and so forth.

How do you expect a participant of negotiations, which are still to reach some kind of specific understanding, to disclose details in public? It is not serious.

Yeah, I read President Trump’s book, “The Art to Make a Deal,” and he doesn’t advise to disclose information before it’s time.

Question: Respectfully, President Trump speaks quite a lot about the things he would like to do with Russia and opportunities to work together. I understand you don’t want to. On the specific things President Trump has said in public, one of the things he brought up is that the US could work with Ukraine to operate the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, which is in an area you know, Zaporozhye. Russians control that area right now. Do you agree with President Trump’s public statements that the best security would be for the US and Ukraine to operate that together?

Sergey Lavrov: No, we never received such an offer, and if we do, we would explain that the power station, Zaporozhskaya Nuclear Power Station, is run by the Russian Federation state corporation called Rosatom. It is being under monitoring of the IAEA personnel permanently located on the site, and if not for the Ukrainian regular attempts to attack the station and to create a nuclear disaster for Europe and for Ukraine, as well, the safety requirements are fully implemented. It is in very good hands.

Question: So that’s a no?

Sergey Lavrov: No. I don’t think any change is conceivable.

Question: Okay, because that was in a public statement from the White House to the media.

Sergey Lavrov: We, as I said, we did not receive any proposal which would be specific, so, you know, I understand that journalists have to speculate. We cannot speculate on something which is really not being mentioned during the negotiations.

Question: Zaporozhskaya station is not being negotiated right now?

Sergey Lavrov: Shall I say that for the third time? You wanted me to be brief.

Question: I heard you, but I just want to be abundantly clear because that is also widely reported to be in the US proposal currently on the table.

Sergey Lavrov: Why don’t you ask me about President Trump’s position on Crimea?

Question: You liked what President Trump said about Crimea yesterday when he said that it has been under Russian control.

Sergey Lavrov: It’s not about liking or disliking. It’s about the fact that he said the truth, and when Zelensky said that this is absolutely excluded because Crimea is part of Ukraine according to the constitution, nobody in Europe or in the States, by the way, reminded him that apart from territorial issues, the Ukrainian Constitution guarantees, I quote, “the free development, the use and protection of the Russian and other national minorities’ language in Ukraine,” and they guarantee the development of ethnic, cultural, language, and religious identity of all peoples and national minorities in Ukraine. This is also in the constitution, but as I mentioned already, and you decided not to go deeper into this topic, nobody in the West even mentions human rights when they demand that “Ukraine defeat Russia in the battlefield.“

Question: President Trump said Crimea is not even being discussed right now.

Sergey Lavrov: Yes, because this is a done deal.

Question: You mean Russia occupies and controls and will not negotiate the future of Crimea? Is that what you’re saying?

Sergey Lavrov: Russia do not negotiate its own territory. And President Trump understands this.

Question: One specific thing that you do want in the public space, you said everything else that I’ve asked you about in the US proposal is too sensitive to discuss. Is there any other part of the US proposal that you do like?

Sergey Lavrov: No, no, no. I only commented what was said publicly. And I also said that normal negotiators, I emphasize this once again, normal negotiators do not negotiate by throwing a microphone. They meet and they discuss, they listen to each other, they try to understand, they try to see where a balance of interest can be reached, and this is how our contacts with the American representatives are organized.

Question: Respectfully, you’ve been in the top levels of Russian diplomacy for 30 years…

Sergey Lavrov: For how many?

Question: For at least 30 years. I mean, you’ve been in very key diplomatic roles within the top of the Russian diplomatic system for a very, very long time. I don’t think any part of this is typical or normal, to use the words you used. Steve Witkoff is the envoy. Kirill Dmitriev is Vladimir Putin’s envoy here. Do you think it’s unfortunate that the international system of diplomacy isn’t being used more and that it’s this kind of one-on-one personal envoy structure?

Sergey Lavrov: You did not express your disappointment that the international system of diplomacy was not used for the entire duration of the Biden administration. You did not mention that Europeans are really very nervous that they’re being marginalized. But I can quote a lot of what Europeans stated. I mentioned already Kaja Kallas and Ursula von der Leyen, who said, “Any deal must make sure that Ukraine is stronger and that Ukraine is on top of Russia.”

 

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Look, do you need negotiators who believe in this kind of logic and who don’t want to look for honest balance of interest? The Trump administration is interested in searching for a balance of interest. They sincerely want to understand better the Russian position. And they’re getting this understanding. And we understand better the American position through negotiations and meetings and discussions, which we have with them.

Question: Back in January, Russia signed a deal with Iran to become a strategic partner. Would Russia be willing to sever that relationship at the request of the US if it meant better relations with America?

Sergey Lavrov: There was never any request like this. And we welcome the process which was initiated between the United States and Iran. We are ready to be helpful if parties believe this can be the case. And they know this.

Question: You were the negotiator back in 2015 on behalf of Russia for that landmark international agreement, the JCPOA. And part of how Russia was helpful was destroying Iran’s enriched nuclear material. Is that an offer you would do again?

Sergey Lavrov: We were not involved in destroying Iran’s nuclear material.

Question: Disposing.

Sergey Lavrov: Part of the deal was to move some amount of this material to Russia for keeping.

Question: Okay. So not destroying, but keeping. Would you keep Iran’s enriched nuclear material that they’ve made?

Sergey Lavrov: Look, I said, “We are not putting our nose in the negotiations between the two countries, one of which is not Russia.” And I said very clearly, I believe, but you wanted a brief answer, I will have to be longer, since it is not probably getting through.

We welcome the dialogue between the US and Iran. We would be certainly ready to help if both parties believe this is going to be useful. And they know that we are ready.

Question: Well, back then, there were sanctions and pressure at the UN. It’s a very different dynamic now. I want to ask you quickly about nuclear weapons, because Russia is such a nuclear powerhouse. According to US intelligence, Russia is developing a new satellite meant to carry a nuclear weapon, which would knock out other satellites and devastate the U.S. if it’s used. That’s in publicly published material. Does Russia intend to violate past treaties and actually put a nuclear weapon in space?

Sergey Lavrov: Well, before asking this question, you have to check whether this is true or not, what your military, US intelligence says…

I was listening to President Trump about his views of what is the list of achievements of US intelligence. And I have my own facts on which I rely.

We have been promoting for many years in the United Nations a resolution prohibiting putting any nuclear weapons into outer space. The country which is categorically against it is the United States. At the same time, the United States promotes an approach according to which they want to prohibit putting conventional weapons in outer space. And they cannot answer the question, “Does this mean that nuclear weapons, they would be planning to move to the orbit?”

So my answer is very clear. We have been championing in the United Nations a legal prohibition of placing any nuclear weapons in outer space. And the United States, at least during the Biden administration, this was the case, they were categorically against it.

Question: It was the Trump administration’s intelligence community that published those findings just a few weeks ago. Are you saying the Trump administration’s intelligence community findings are incorrect in regard to Russia developing a new satellite meant to carry a nuclear weapon?

Sergey Lavrov: We denied those allegations. We, once again, cannot help repeating, have been promoting for years in the United Nations a treaty, not a declaration, a treaty prohibiting placing weapons in outer space. And the United States is against it. I cannot comment about the validity of the intelligence reports, as I told you. We never received any facts which would confirm the allegations.

Question: Do you have any interest in arms-control talks with the United States, with the Trump administration?

Sergey Lavrov: It was the United States which broke the process of strengthening strategic stability. And if the United States is willing to get back to this track, we will see what are the conditions under which this might be possible. As long as in the U.S. doctrinal documents, we are described as adversary, when the officials in Washington called some time ago, called us enemy.

So we want to understand what Washington thinks of our relationship and whether Washington is ready for, I would emphasize once again, an equal, mutually respectful dialogue heading to finding a balance of interest. If this is the approach, everything is possible.

Question: Minister, we are coming up on time, but just before I let you go from everything you laid out, I haven’t heard from you that Russia is willing to make any concession on anything to date.

Sergey Lavrov: No, my brief answer is you are wrong.

I have been emphasizing repeatedly in relation to Ukraine, in relation to strategic relations with the United States, I have been emphasizing our readiness to seek balance of interests. If this is not what your station considers readiness for negotiations, then I don’t know how to be even less eloquent in trying to be brief in my answers.

Question: Well, there have been very clear, specific things said by the Trump administration, such as the vice president saying that the current lines of contact in Ukraine would freeze and end up fairly close to where troops are right now. Do you actually consider that a concession?

Sergey Lavrov: I don’t discuss publicly the details of what is being subject of negotiations. I understand that you love rumors because rumors are played around…

Question: The vice president of the United States said it on camera.

Sergey Lavrov:  Was it a question? What did you say?

Question: Well, rumor. Rumor. You said it was a rumor. The vice president said it.

Sergey Lavrov: No, I said about us. We are not discussing things which are subject to negotiations.

Question: Okay. Minister Lavrov, thank you for your time.