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He also blames Europe.
Who is to blame for the war in Ukraine still raging?
Most in the West would point to Russia, but according to the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, the US is actually to blame—at least for the past year of fighting.
During a round table on the war in Ukraine, Lavrov claimed a major peace opportunity had slipped away last year.
The Alaska Summit
“If the Americans had not backed away from the Anchorage agreements, if Europe had not dragged those agreements out, we would have already been living without war for a year. That is a clear fact, so draw your own conclusions,” Lavrov stated according to Russian media, cited by The Kyiv Independent, the Kyiv Post and other outlets.
American officials offer a starkly different account of the Alaska meeting, which took place in August 2025.
Russian officials have repeatedly claimed that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin actually made agreements on how to end the war in Ukraine, but US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has previously told journalists that no agreements concerning Ukraine were made during the summit.
Instead, Rubio claims, the Anchorage summit ended without a deal, because the proposal from Russia was unacceptable to Ukraine.
“We have something to say”
Moscow maintains that it remains open to future talks.
“We have never refused negotiations. And all those negotiations that took place were halted not on our initiative. Therefore, if our colleagues are ready, I believe they can certainly be resumed. We have something to say,” Lavrov stated.
He insisted that Russia has not altered its key goals since the invasion began.
“Under this heading, we are prepared to search for reasonable compromises, but we have fundamentally not altered our objectives to guarantee our security, prevent NATO’s presence on our borders, secure the legitimate rights of Russians and Russian-speaking people who have lived on these lands for centuries, and free them from the threats of Nazification, militarisation, and so forth,” the Russian minister said.
