Lavrov: Zelensky’s reaction to diesel deal a ‘direct challenge’ to Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's reaction to a diesel agreement between Moscow and Washington is a "direct challenge" to US President Donald Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

In remarks to journalists after the 7th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Azerbaijan's capital Baku, Lavrov said Russia supported the initiative announced by Trump last week, accusing Zelensky of continuing to request weapons to attack Russia's energy infrastructure.

"This is a direct-and, moreover, crude-challenge to President Trump, who actively supported this deal and has spoken about it publicly on more than one occasion," Lavrov said.

Zelensky said he felt betrayed by Trump over Washington's diesel supply deal with Russia that is meant to stabilize global oil prices.

The Russian foriegn minister also accused Zelensky of not being prepared to "engage in any constructive actions that would be truly fair and based on equality," and claimed that the Ukrainian leader has set "unacceptable conditions" for holding elections in Ukraine.

Commenting on media reports about a "peace plan" jointly being developed by the US and Europe, Lavrov said Russia has not received any official proposals in this regard and that, "based on the leaks" he has seen, there are no ideas on how to move toward a long-term and sustainable peace in Ukraine.

On Monday, citing an unnamed US official, The Washington Post reported on a joint peace proposal under development by the US and Europe.

Two days later, the Kremlin said a "great deal of noise" is present in the media concerning peace proposals to end the Ukraine war, calling much of it "fabrication."

In his remarks in Baku, Lavrov said Russia has not received any requests from Azerbaijan or Armenia regarding Moscow's participation in the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) project.

"We welcomed the agreement reached (between Azerbaijan and Armenia) in Washington. We are prepared to participate in infrastructure projects-we have stated this on many occasions," Lavrov added.

He said Russia's believes the next two meetings of the 3+3 regional platform-comprising of Türkiye, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Russia-could take place in Azerbaijan and then Armenia.

Lavrov arrived in Baku on Wednesday to attend the CICA event, which he addressed earlier on Thursday.

In his speech, Lavrov said CICA's voice is being heard with increasing frequency at various multilateral forums, inviting partners to join Russia in developing a "comprehensive political document for Eurasia, addressing the themes of diversity and multipolarity in the 21st century."

"We are convinced that transforming CICA along a pan-Eurasian trajectory-in line with the demands of the times-is an objective and natural path for our organization," Lavrov said.