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According to him, the war had “seemingly” been resolved during the Alaska Summit last year.
Russia’s foreign minister has publicly accused Washington of blocking progress toward ending the war in Ukraine, reviving disputed claims about past US-Russian talks.
The comments come as Moscow seeks to reshape the narrative around stalled diplomacy.
According to The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a February 9 interview the United States was responsible for the lack of movement toward peace.
War “resolved” in Alaska?
Speaking to TV BRICS, a Russian outlet focused on BRICS nations and candidates, Lavrov argued that Washington had reversed course after earlier discussions.
He claimed the two sides had “seemingly…resolv[ed]” the war during the August 2025 US-Russia Alaska Summit and were moving toward “broad and mutually beneficial collaboration.” Lavrov said that momentum faded when the United States began “creat[ed] artificial barriers” through sanctions, tanker seizures, and secondary tariffs on Russian oil buyers.
Lavrov presented those measures as a violation of proposals he said the United States itself had put forward during the Alaska talks.
Claims without documents
Russian news agency TASS reported that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov echoed that view the same day, saying the Alaska meeting produced a “number of understandings” that could lead to a “breakthrough” in negotiations. He did not provide details or documentation.
According to ISW, the Kremlin has used the absence of public records from the Alaska Summit to suggest a shared framework for ending the war. Russian officials have argued that the meeting endorsed principles outlined by President Vladimir Putin in a June 2024 address to the Foreign Ministry.
In that speech, Putin demanded that Ukraine and NATO accept Russia’s original war conditions.
Critics say Moscow is now pressuring Washington to abandon US-led talks with Ukraine and European partners in favor of a bilateral settlement aligned with Russian demands.
Sources: TV BRICS, Kremlin statements, Institute for the Study of War (ISW), TASS
