Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the United States under President Donald Trump is showing “an increasingly clear understanding” of what Moscow calls the root causes of the Ukraine conflict and no longer supports prolonging the war. Speaking in Moscow on 20–21 August, Lavrov added that Russia sees Washington looking for “guarantees” that would anchor a settlement. Lavrov criticised European leaders for what he described as “clumsy” efforts to persuade Trump to harden his stance on Kyiv, accusing the European Union of aggravating the situation instead of addressing underlying security concerns. He said Russia hopes these initiatives will fail. Turning to Kyiv, Lavrov asserted that Ukraine is “not interested in a sustainable, long-term settlement” and suggested that the legitimacy of any Ukrainian representative must be clarified before peace agreements can be signed. He referred to President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “so-called” leader, pointing to the expiry of his original five-year mandate in 2024, and indicated that this issue could block any prospective meeting between Zelensky and President Vladimir Putin.