Russian stance on peace in Ukraine has remained unchanged since the Alaska summit in August, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“I want to officially confirm: Russia has not changed its position in relation to the understanding that existed during the Alaska summit. This understanding is based on the agreement reached then, which President Trump put very succinctly when he said that what is needed is a long-term stable peace and not an immediate ceasefire, which will lead nowhere,” Lavrov told reporters, adding that this is exactly what he told Rubio during their phone conversation yesterday.

Lavrov made the response in response to a CNN report, which he called “unethical”, which said that the expected Rubio-Lavrov meeting has been postponed for the time being and that US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity felt that Russia was still maintaining a “maximalist stance”.

Lavrov said there will be no lasting peace like the one Trump is seeking unless the root causes of the war are addressed. He also said the time and place of the next Trump-Putin summit is less important than the substance of implementing the agreements reached in Anchorage, Alaska.

Moscow has said it wants Ukraine to cede more territory as one of several conditions it has set for a ceasefire.

The Kremlin, through its spokesman Dmitry Peskov, said there was no clear date for the meeting between the two presidents. “Listen, we have an agreement with the presidents, but we cannot postpone what has not been finalized,” Peskov said. “Neither President Trump nor President Putin gave exact dates.”