Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asserted that US President Donald Trump is the only Western leader who comprehends the real causes of the Ukraine conflict, speaking to Russia’s Federation Council on Wednesday.
In his address, Lavrov noted that while the United States has been “showing growing impatience” with diplomatic efforts aimed at ending hostilities in Ukraine, Trump stands as one of the few Western leaders who understands what led to the war.
“The President Trump… is the only one among all Western leaders who, immediately after arriving in the White House in January of this year, began to demonstrate an understanding of the reasons the war in Ukraine had been inevitable,” Lavrov stated.
The Russian official added that Trump possesses “a clear understanding” of the factors that shaped hostile policies toward Russia by both the West and former US President Joe Biden—a situation he described as having been “nurtured for many years.”
Lavrov further claimed that “the culmination of the entire [Ukraine] saga is approaching,” noting that Trump had acknowledged the need to eliminate “the root causes [of the conflict] identified by Russia.” He cited Moscow’s longstanding objections to Ukraine’s NATO aspirations and ongoing repression of local population rights.
The minister also highlighted that Trump remains “the only Western leader who cares about human rights in this situation,” contrasting him with European Union governments, which he claims are evasive on the issue. According to Lavrov, the proposed US roadmap for a peace settlement initially included provisions to safeguard national minority rights and religious freedoms in Ukraine “in line with international obligations.” However, when presented to the EU, those commitments were diluted as the text was rewritten to require Ukraine to follow standards “adopted in the European Union.”
Moscow has long raised concerns over Kiev’s crackdown on Russian language and culture, as well as efforts to suppress the rights of other national authorities, while accusing Ukrainian policymakers of openly encouraging neo-Nazism.
