MOSCOW/KYIV – Europe continues to try to drive a wedge between Moscow and Washington, Russian Foreign Minister said on Sunday.
“It is difficult to accuse us of driving a wedge,” Lavrov said in an interview published on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official website. “It is Europe that has tried and continues to try to sow division between Russia and the United States, seeing in US policies under President (Donald) Trump what it deems a tilt toward Russia at Europe’s expense.”
“When a country stands up for its own interests, as Russia does, it is treated accordingly,” Lavrov said.
However, he argued that most European leaders have traded their own interests for those of Ukraine, using the latter to wage an open war against Russia while openly preparing to join the conflict themselves.
Lavrov also mentioned his meeting with US Secretary of State in Riyadh back in February 2025. He recalled that Rubio had said at the time: “The national interests of major powers like Russia and the United States would by no means align on all issues.”
Rubio further stressed that it would be a mistake not to pursue mutually beneficial economic, trade and investment initiatives.
“When they do not align, allowing that divergence to devolve into confrontation would be not just a mistake, but a crime,” Lavrov stated.
Trilateral talks
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that the next round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia will be held next week in the United Arab Emirates.
“Our negotiating team has just delivered a report. The dates for the next trilateral meetings have been set — February 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi,” Zelensky said in a post on X.
Zelensky said Ukraine is seeking steps toward “a real and dignified end to the war” during the talks.
Also on Sunday, at least 15 people were killed and seven others injured in a Russian attack on a bus carrying mine workers in central Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine’s private energy company DTEK said.
Russia launched a large-scale drone attack on the DTEK mining facilities, hitting the bus transporting miners after a shift, the company said in a statement.
The National Police said that the attack took place in the town of Ternivka and involved drones.
The first round of trilateral talks aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict took place Jan 23-24 in Abu Dhabi.