Lavrov's Post-talks Presser & Comments to Rossiya 1 TV & US Readout

Lavrov held a short 16-minute presser after the talks that included his remarks. Lavrov referred to a short interview Putin gave to Pavel Zarubin of Rossiya 1 TV that the Kremlin never supplied a readout of until now. That will follow the presser, Afterwards he was asked a series of quick questions by Rossiya 1 TV, although there’s no mention of the seemingly always present Pavel Zarubin. Here goes":

We would like to express our gratitude to the leadership of Saudi Arabia for the opportunity to hold a meeting between Russian and American representatives. We expressed this gratitude personally to Crown Prince of the Kingdom Mohammed bin Salman when we had an audience with Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov.

We talked for about an hour about our bilateral relations and how important it is to ensure in the world, if not complete agreement (it is impossible), then at least the readiness of the great powers in any situation to maintain a normal, professional dialogue, try to hear each other, learn lessons from what is happening and prevent any conflicts and crises.

This position of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was, in fact, reproduced during our talks with the American side. At the beginning of our conversation, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasised the fundamental importance for each country to be guided by its own national interests in international relations. We fully agreed with this. As well as the fact that these national interests will not always coincide. But when they do not coincide, it is very important to regulate these discrepancies, not to let them take their course, and especially not to provoke confrontation of a military or other kind.

When national interests coincide, we must do everything possible to unite and implement mutually beneficial projects in the geopolitical sphere and economic affairs in these areas of effort.

The conversation was very useful. We not only listened but also heard each other. I have reason to believe that the American side has begun to better understand our position, which we have once again set out in detail and using specific examples on the basis of repeated speeches by President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

As for the agreements reached. The first and probably the most urgent, and even more so not the most difficult, is to ensure the speedy appointment of Russian ambassadors to the United States and the United States to Russia. And also to remove the obstacles that for many years, primarily by the Biden administration over the past four years, were built on the direction of our diplomatic missions, seriously complicating their work: the endless expulsions of our diplomats, to which we had to respond, the continuing problems of seizing our real estate, and much more.

Not the least problem is bank transfers, which they are trying to restrict for us. Of course, we reciprocate. We agreed that our deputies will agree on a meeting in the very near future and consider the need to remove these artificial "barriers" in the work of Russian embassies and other foreign missions in the United States and the United States in Russia. Moreover, they will try not to concentrate on any specific manifestation of these "obstacles", but will try to take a systematic approach in order to put an end to these inconveniences once and for all, which really impede the development of normal everyday relations.

The second agreement. We agreed that a "process on the Ukrainian settlement" will be formed in the near future. The American side will report who will represent Washington in this work. As soon as we know the name and position of the relevant representative, as President Vladimir Putin said to US President Donald Trump, we will immediately designate our participant in this process.

Third, in broad conceptual terms, in the course of the processes related to the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine, we should simultaneously create conditions for our cooperation to resume in full and expand to a variety of areas.

There is a great interest (which we share) in resuming consultations on geopolitical issues, including various conflicts in different parts of the world, where both the United States and Russia have interests.

Great interest was expressed in removing artificial barriers to the development of mutually beneficial economic cooperation. The head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Konstantin Dmitriev was present at the discussion of the economic aspects of our meeting today. He presented some problems that could be quickly resolved to the benefit of both Russia and the United States.

Question: There are now different assessments, mostly positive ones. The US side is already doing so. On which track have you managed to bring the positions with the United States the closest – on the Russian-American or Ukrainian track? Have you managed to lay the foundation for a meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States? What are the next steps? Will you have meetings in the near future? US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that concessions would be required from everyone on the Ukrainian track. Are there any understandings?

Sergey Lavrov: As for the issues on which mutual understanding has been reached, this does not necessarily mean a rapprochement of positions. I have already spoken about this. We have practically agreed that we need to resolve once and for all the problem of the functioning of our diplomatic missions. A mutual desire to find concrete solutions to our dialogue on international affairs and economic ties was indicated.

As for the Ukrainian issue, I mentioned the agreement that the Americans will appoint their representative. We will reciprocate. After that, relevant consultations will begin. They will be regular.

We met at the decision of the presidents of Russia and the United States, who agreed to work on the preparation of the next summit. To this end, the foreign ministers and national security advisers were instructed to meet and see what needs to be worked out before the presidents can begin to agree on a specific date and date for the summit.

Question: Immediately after the meeting, a lot of information appeared, citing some sources close to the diplomatic process, regarding the "three-stage plan" that Russia allegedly agreed with the United States on Ukraine. Is this true?

Sergey Lavrov: As for the "three-point plan." I have not seen this information or reports. Today, when I was skimming through the news, I found a link to a statement by Polish Foreign Minister R. Sikorski, who said somewhere "on the sidelines of Munich" that he had met with US representative Kevin Kellogg. He informed him about a certain settlement plan. It did not say whether it was three points or four. But R. Sikorski, commenting on the plan, said that he could not disclose the details. "The plan is atypical, but it can be very interesting."

Today I asked US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz what this means. They replied that it was a fake.

Question: Prior to this meeting, the United States sent a questionnaire to the European Union asking what Europe can offer in terms of providing security guarantees to Ukraine. There is a question about the introduction of a contingent into Ukraine. What is Moscow's attitude to this?

Sergey Lavrov: As for the "floating" information that the Americans asked the European Union a number of questions in order to better understand what the EU is going to do and how the Americans can be useful or involved. I have already mentioned this.

But he also said that the Americans are interested in the potential deployment of some armed peacekeeping forces after the conflict is settled or an agreement is reached, as mentioned in this paper, from the point of view of which countries are ready to provide them. It is clear that the question is addressed to the members of the European Union.

We explained to our interlocutors today that we have well noted that US President Donald Trump was the first among Western leaders to clearly say in several of his speeches that Ukraine's involvement in NATO is one of the main reasons for what is happening, that this is one of the biggest mistakes made by Joe Biden and his administration, and that if Donald Trump had been president, he would not have allowed this.

In this regard, we explained to our colleagues that President of Russia Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed that NATO expansion and the absorption of Ukraine by the North Atlantic Alliance are a direct threat to the interests of the Russian Federation and our sovereignty. Therefore, the appearance of armed forces from the same NATO countries, but under a false flag, under the flag of the European Union or under national flags, does not change anything in this regard. This is unacceptable for us.

Question: On the eve of the talks, the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked the Kropotkinskaya pumping station in the Kuban. Oil goes through it, which belongs to US and European companies, among other things. Is this Vladimir Zelensky's attempt to send Donald Trump a "black mark" against the backdrop of contacts with Russia?

Sergey Lavrov: As for what caused the latest attack on Kazakhstan's energy infrastructure. There are many reasons to guess what was the basis of the order that someone gave in Kiev. But this should only strengthen everyone's opinion that this cannot go on like this, that this man and his entire team must be brought to reason, "slapped on the wrist."

By the way, today our American colleagues said, they say, maybe introduce a moratorium on attacks on energy facilities. We explained that we have never endangered the energy supply systems of the population, and our targets were only those facilities that directly serve the armed forces of Ukraine.

We recalled that even as part of the talks about the possible resumption of the Black Sea deal, the issue of protecting energy facilities was raised with Turkish mediators. We expressed our readiness to discuss modalities, but then Vladimir Zelensky himself refused to do so.

Question: Are the statements by a number of EU countries about their desire to be at the negotiating table related to their other statements about historical rights to Ukrainian lands?

Sergey Lavrov: I don't know. But there are such talks. Politicians in Romania have been talking about this quite recently. I will not guess.

Question: Vladimir Zelensky said yesterday that he did not recognise the results of the talks between the United States and Russia. How important do you think Vladimir Zelensky's participation in the talks is for achieving peace? Can he count on participating in this process?

Sergey Lavrov: There is no need to go into details here, because this topic was covered in detail by President of Russia Vladimir Putin in his recent interview with Pavel Zarubin. I have nothing to add.

Question: It is obvious to many that attempts are being made to seriously "torpedo" the establishment and resumption of relations between Russia and the United States. What should Russia do to prevent these attempts to "torpedo" in order to "protect the process"? Today, after four and a half hours alone with the Americans, do you think that their will to restore relations with Russia is firm?

Sergey Lavrov: In order to prevent the "torpedoing" of the establishment of relations between Russia and the United States, it is necessary to improve them. This is what we did today. Frankly speaking, not without success.

We have not discussed everything that still separates us. But the conceptual approach to further work was determined by the presidents during their telephone conversation.

We felt the full determination and concrete determination of our American colleagues to actively move this movement forward, as instructed by the presidents. And we will also work on this. [My Emphasis]

The Zarubin-Putin exchange from 24 January:

Pavel Zarubin: Mr President, President Trump has made many different statements about a possible meeting with you and the prospects for a Ukrainian settlement. I would like to know your opinion.

Vladimir Putin: Indeed, The President of the United States has made many statements on this matter.

First of all, I would like to say that Russia has never refused contacts with the United States Administration, and it is not our fault that the previous administration refused these contacts. With the current President of the United States, I have always had business-like, exclusively business-like, but at the same time pragmatic and trust-based I would say.

I cannot but agree with him that if he had been President, if his victory had not been stolen from him in 2020, then maybe there would not have been the crisis in Ukraine that arose in 2022. Although it is known that Trump, being President in his first iteration, also introduced a significant number of restrictions and sanctions against Russia. I don't think it was a decision that was in the interests of not only Russia, but also the United States itself. By the way, Biden picked up this baton and introduced even more Restrictions. And the result is known–-there are a lot of decisions that are harmful to the economy of the United States.

For example, undermining the power of the dollar itself, because the ban on Russia using the dollar–-and we did not abandon the dollar, it was the previous administration that did not give us the opportunity to use the dollar as a unit of account–-in my opinion, this decision causes very serious damage to the United States itself. But now we will not go into this. I can only say that we see statements by the current President about his readiness to work together. We are always open to this.

As for the issue related, say, to the talks, we have always talked about this, and I want to emphasise this again, we are ready for these talks on the Ukrainian issue. But there are also issues that require special Attention.

For example, as you know, the current head of the regime in Kiev, when he was still a fairly legitimate head of state, issued a decree banning negotiations. How can negotiations be resumed now if they are prohibited?

We are now at Moscow University. As you know, I have a basic education as a lawyer, and I graduated from the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg, then Leningrad University. I can tell you that if negotiations begin within the framework of the current regulatory framework, they will be, strictly speaking, illegitimate, which means that the results of these negotiations can also be declared illegitimate.

The current regime in Kiev is happy to receive hundreds of billions from its sponsors, sorry for the simplicity of popular expressions, as we say among the people, it is happy to hamster these hundreds of billions on both cheeks, but it is in no hurry to follow the instructions of its sponsors–-and we know that there are such instructions-–to cancel the adopted decree on the ban on negotiations.

But I think that in the end, those who pay the money must still force him to do this, and I think he will have to do it. But until this decree is repealed, it is quite difficult to say that these negotiations can be started and, most importantly, completed properly. Of course, some preliminary outlines can be made, but serious negotiations, of course, in the context of the ban from the Ukrainian side, it is quite difficult to talk about anything serious.

On the whole, of course, we can have quite a lot of common ground with the current administration, a search for a solution to the key issues of today. These are issues of strategic stability, these are issues of the economy, by the way. Why? We are one of the largest producers in the world, say, of oil, the United States is now generally in first place, then Saudi Arabia and Russia.

But what is characteristic of the Russian and, say, American economies? We are not just one of the largest energy producers, we are also the largest consumers of energy resources. And this means that both our and the American economy and too high prices are bad, because by using energy resources, you need to produce other goods domestically, and too low prices are also very bad, because it undermines the investment opportunities of energy companies. In here, we have a lot to talk about. There are other issues in the energy sector that may be of mutual interest.

By the way, in this sense, I doubt that the current President of the United States, Mr Trump, I repeat, we worked with him in the first period of his presidency to make some decisions, even if we hear about the possibility of introducing additional sanctions against Russia, I doubt that he will make decisions that will harm the US economy itself. He is not only an intelligent person, he is a pragmatic person. And I can hardly imagine that decisions will be made that will damage the US economy itself.

Therefore, most likely, it is really better for us to meet, relying on the realities of today, to talk calmly in all those areas that are of interest to both the United States and Russia. We're ready. But, I repeat, this first of all, of course, depends on the decisions and choices of the current US administration. [My Emphasis]

The nod to the importance of energy is probably why the current meeting is being held in Saudi Arabia. Given Zelensky’s current level of anger, perhaps he’ll refuse to rescind his no-negotiation order to impede the talks.

And now, Rossiya 1 TV:

Question: Have you managed to reach a substantive agreement with the American side on any results? Contradictory information comes from the other side.

Sergey Lavrov: I will tell you now, let's go.

Question: When will President Vladimir Putin meet with US President Donald Trump?

Sergey Lavrov: When the presidents agree.

Question: Has a group been formed to deal with the negotiations?

Sergey Lavrov: We agreed that groups from both sides will be formed after reporting to our presidents.

Question: Do you think today's talks have been successful?

Sergey Lavrov: I think they are positive.

Question: Did you know Mr Marco Rubio, or was this the first meeting?

Sergey Lavrov: First meeting.

Question: What impression did the other negotiators make?

Sergey Lavrov: We had good, positive talks. The atmosphere was very positive. Positive people create a positive atmosphere.

Question: They say you joked a lot?

Sergey Lavrov: These are intimate details. Who is talking about jokes?

Question: American representatives say that you were joking during the talks.

Sergey Lavrov: I am glad that they liked it, since they said so. [My Emphasis]

Hmmm… That the Americans think Lavrov’s joking isn’t a good sign as that means they failed to take him and his position seriously. I see CNN is spinning the talks as “a partial victory.” In contrast with the Russian readout, the Empire’s is short and terse:

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Tammy Bruce:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today as a follow up to President Donald Trump’s conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 12. Secretary Rubio was joined by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Ambassador Steve Witkoff, the team chosen by President Trump to reestablish the bilateral relationship. Foreign Minister Lavrov was joined by Russian Aide to the President Yuri Ushakov.

President Trump wants to stop the killing; the United States wants peace and is using its strength in the world to bring countries together. President Trump is the only leader in the world who can get Ukraine and Russia to agree to that.

We agreed to:

• Establish a consultation mechanism to address irritants to our bilateral relationship with the objective of taking steps necessary to normalize the operation of our respective diplomatic missions.

• Appoint respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides.

• Lay the groundwork for future cooperation on matters of mutual geopolitical interest and historic economic and investment opportunities which will emerge from a successful end to the conflict in Ukraine.

• The parties to today’s meetings pledge to remain engaged to make sure the process moves forward in a timely and productive manner.

One phone call followed by one meeting is not sufficient to establish enduring peace. We must take action, and today we took an important step forward.

We would like to thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.

An intimate interview, not a press conference, was held by the US delegation with two CNN presstitutes. Since it’s in English and doesn’t require translation, I’ll let readers choose to read it or not. The one remarkable point I saw was Rubio’s insistence that the conflict began in 2022 not 2014, and that’s going to be a problem IMO.

*
*
*
Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a monthly/yearly pledge to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!