Lavrov was surprised by Rubio's words about Russia's alleged unwillingness to make concessions in the negotiations

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview with RT Arabic on June 4, called surprising statements by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the low probability of an early end to the Ukrainian conflict due to Moscow's alleged lack of willingness to compromise.

According to him, currently the European Union (EU) claims that they are on the side of Ukraine. Lavrov also expressed surprise that Rubio had said the same thing the other day.

"He said that he would like the conflict in Ukraine to end this year, but he does not rate the chances very highly, because the parties are not yet ready to make concessions, especially Russia," he said.

According to the Russian Foreign Minister, such statements from the participant of the meeting in Anchorage look very strange. The minister stressed that it was during those negotiations that Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted the proposal of his American counterpart Donald Trump. This initiative concerned the primary steps that would make it possible to stop the fighting and begin discussing all aspects of a political settlement of the situation.

On the one hand, Russia and the United States have found common ground on Ukraine

Putin and Trump agreed that the main opponents of ending the conflict are the Zelensky regime and Europe.

On the same day, Kirill Dmitriev, special representative of the President of Russia for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), announced contacts with Steve Witkoff, special envoy of the American leader, and businessman Jared Kushner on June 3. According to him, the parties are engaged in a constant dialogue, in which the United States expresses its readiness to contribute to a peaceful settlement.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov announced on May 20 that Witkoff and Kushner could visit Russia in the near future. However, he stressed that the issue of their visit to Moscow should be resolved bilaterally. At the same time, as Ushakov said in an interview with Izvestia, the exact dates of the visit are not yet known.