Comments by Russia’s FM come as Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says security guarantees needed before Putin meeting.Russia has said that Ukraine was “not interested” in a long-term peace deal, accusing it of seeking security guarantees incompatible with Russia’s demands.“The Ukrainian regime and its representatives comment on the current situation in a very specific way, directly showing that they are not interested in a sustainable, fair, long-term settlement,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference on Thursday.Lavrov also repeated Russia’s policy that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy – but only after key issues have previously been worked out by senior officials in what could be a long negotiating process.His comments came as Zelenskyy announced he could meet with Putin, but only after his allies agree to security guarantees for Ukraine to deter future Russian attacks once the fighting stops.In comments released on Thursday, Zelenskyy also warned that both sides were preparing for further fighting. Russia was building up troops on the southern front line and Ukraine was test-launching a new long-range cruise missile, he said.US President Donald Trump is trying to end Russia’s three-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine through talks with Zelenskyy and Putin.While he has upended a years-long Western policy of isolating the Russian leader, he has made little tangible progress towards a p …
