Ukraine peace talks were in disarray on Wednesday after Russia effectively demanded Moscow and Beijing get a veto on any security guarantees.
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said Vladimir Putin had agreed to ‘game-changing Article 5-like protections’ for Kyiv when they met in Alaska last Friday.
European leaders raced to build on the momentum and hammer out the details – with Britain and France considering putting boots on the ground while America would protect the skies.
But yesterday serious questions arose over what exactly Mr Witkoff had secured as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow must be part of the security guarantees.
Putin’s man also said these ‘should be provided on an equal basis with the participation of countries such as China, the United States, the UK and France’.
Lavrov added: ‘I’m sure in the West they understand that seriously discussing security issues without Russia is a utopia, it’s a road to nowhere.’
He claimed the terms are based on those Moscow tried to force Kyiv into signing in Istanbul in April 2022, two months after their invasion. Those terms effectively meant none of the guarantors would be allowed to defend Ukraine from Russia unless they all agreed, including China and Russia.
Lavrov took aim at what he called Europe’s ‘clumsy attempts to change the position of the US President’ in recent days.
Ukraine peace talks were in disarray on Wednesday after Russia demanded Moscow and Beijing get a veto on any security guarantees
Ukrainian soldiers inspect the site of a Russian Shahed drone strike that destroyed vehicles and residential buildings the previous day on August 20, 2025 in Sloviansk, Ukraine
President Donald Trump greets Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on the tarmac at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, Aug. 15, 2025
He said: ‘We cannot agree with the fact that it is now proposed to resolve collective security issues without the Russian Federation. This will not work.
‘We will firmly and strictly protect our legitimate interests.’
That suggests the Kremlin has not moved at all on its maximalist position, with experts questioning what exactly Donald Trump’s diplomacy had achieved.
John Foreman, ex-UK defence attaché to Moscow and Kyiv, said Mr Witkoff has been left looking ‘inexperienced’ and ‘naive’.
He added: ‘Trump and Witkoff misunderstood the Russians in Moscow and Alaska. They raised hopes about security guarantees and further talks, confused everyone, and the whole thing fell apart with Lavrov’s intervention.
‘Russia avoids sanctions for now. Putin remains immovable. Trump gave up his leverage and this is the result. What a fiasco.’
Marko Mihkelson, head of the Estonian foreign affairs committee, posted: ‘Russia wants to be a security guarantor for Ukraine. Seriously? Russia can only be stopped by force, not by red-carpet summits.’
The development came as Mr Trump said Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky were ‘in the process’ of setting up a bilateral meeting but said: ‘If necessary, I’ll go.’
The Palace of Culture, built during Soviet times, was bombed by Russian invading troops on August 19, 2025 in Donetske, Ukraine
Ukrainian soldier holds the remains of a shell at the site of a Russian Shahed drone strike that destroyed vehicles and residential buildings the previous day on August 20, 2025 in Sloviansk, Ukraine
Local residents walk through the site of a Russian Shahed drone strike that destroyed vehicles and residential buildings the previous day on August 20, 2025 in Sloviansk, Ukraine
He added: ‘I think it would be better if they met without me’.
Russia is pushing for Budapest as a location for a trilateral meeting with Mr Trump present – the venue where Ukraine agreed to give up nuclear weapons in 1994.
A White House official last night said: ‘President Trump and his national security team continue to engage with Russian and Ukrainian officials towards a bilateral meeting to stop the killing and end the war.’