Russia Rejects Trump's Ukraine Peace Proposals

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected proposals Monday floated by President-elect Trump's allies to end the war in Ukraine, dealing a major setback for the incoming president's hopes to freeze the conflict.

In an interview with Russian state-run media outlet TASS, Lavrov said Moscow has "not received any official signals regarding a settlement in Ukraine" but the Kremlin was resistant to those unofficial ideas.

"We are not happy, of course, with the proposals made by members of the Trump team to postpone Ukraine’s admission to NATO for 20 years and to station British and European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine," he said, responding to leaked reports of Trump's proposals.

Lavrov called for "reliable and legally binding agreements that would eliminate the root causes of the conflict and seal a mechanism precluding the possibility of their violation."

Trump has not officially released any proposals to end the war, and earlier this month he admitted it would be more difficult to solve than the Middle East conflict. Still, Trump campaigned on ending the war by the time he takes office and has also claimed he could end it within 24 hours of his taking office.

In a Time magazine interview this month, Trump said he would not release his proposal because it would become "a worthless plan" once made public. But he pledged he would not abandon Ukraine amid fears he would give up eastern Ukrainian territory seized by Russian forces in the war without finding a solution that would protect Kyiv.

"I want to reach an agreement, and the only way you're going to reach an agreement is not to abandon," Trump said.

His advisers, including retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, whom Trump tapped for his special envoy to Ukraine, have proposed pushing Ukraine to the table by threatening to cut off aid and getting Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate with the threat of surging weapons.

Solutions to end the war reportedly include abandoning NATO membership aspirations for Ukraine and supporting a European peacekeeping force in return for security guarantees.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made NATO membership a key part of his victory plan, and Ukrainian officials have pushed for legitimate security guarantees, which is unlikely to happen outside of NATO.

Lavrov said Russia "would refuse to accept Ukraine’s NATO membership regardless of the territorial factor."

Putin, who has called for a "lasting peace" and has accused Ukraine of thwarting efforts to end the war, said he is open to meeting with Trump.

But Lavrov said Monday he doubted Trump could restore ties between Russia and the U.S., arguing it would "not be that simple."

"Even if Trump tries to relaunch bilateral ties, he will have to swim against the stream, considering the current bipartisan consensus on the policy of deterring Russia," Lavrov said. "We’ll see what happens next. If the Americans respect our interests, our dialogue will be gradually renewed. If not, everything will remain as it is."