Answers of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation S.V. Lavrov for questions from the program "Moscow. The Kremlin. Putin" (November 15, 2026).
Question: Why, in your opinion, did the Europeans "want" so actively to participate in negotiations and talk to us? For several years they firmly said that there was nothing with us and nothing.
S.V. Lavrov: Apparently, on the one hand, they understand that "the train is leaving", and they want to try to jump on the bandwagon of the last car. But at the same time, their statements still confirm the lack of understanding of what role can be attributed to them. Because to say, like [Chairman of the European Commission] William von der Leyen, that first there is a ceasefire, and only then any talk about European security.
Alternatively, as [EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy] Karl Callas points out, they do not support an arrangement that takes into account Russian interests.
This is completely dead end thinking. I hope everyone understands that.
At least we are talking to the Americans in a substantive way, based on real facts, including the situation on earth, the root causes that underlie this conflict, including attitude to the Russian language, culture, Orthodox religion, etc.
Therefore, in this case, the three-sided feature is the most justified.
As I understand it, all parties have expressed more or less positive comments about the results of these negotiations in Abu Dhabi. Now I don't take Zelensky into account. He is constantly playing his own games, but his negotiations, apparently, were of fundamental discretion. Let's see what assistant to the President of the Russian Federation V.R. Medinsky will tell his delegation when he returns.
Question: The Americans say they are going to Moscow. There are just a few days left until the meeting of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin and US President D. Trump in China.