Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke about contacts with the United States on a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, accusing the European Union of trying to obstruct these efforts.

Moscow and Washington have agreed to continue efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, Lavrov said, noting that “President Trump is the only Western leader who, immediately after entering the White House in January, began to understand the reasons that made the war in Ukraine inevitable.”

The European Union is deluding itself into believing that it can defeat Russia, Lavrov continued, stressing that “having invested all their political capital in the war with Russia, using the hands and bodies of Ukrainian citizens, they, in their political blindness, are deluding themselves that they can somehow defeat our country. As President Putin stressed, we have no intention of going to war with Europe, we have no such thoughts.”

However, Moscow will respond to any hostile actions, including the deployment of European military units in Ukraine and the seizure of Russian property, the Russian minister added.

The EU, according to Lavrov, is artificially holding back the process of diplomatic resolution of the issue, and Trump has also referred to it. “Europe is trying in every way to motivate Zelensky and members of his regime to continue the war until the last Ukrainian is killed. This ideological charge is influenced by economic reasons, as they have no other sources of funding than to rob Russia and take our gold and currency reserves, violating international and trade law.”