Sergei Lavrov demands that both Russia and China obtain an official voice on Western security guarantees for Ukraine. This is a condition that is unacceptable to the West. And this means that peace talks may get stuck in a deadline and before they started for good.
Why does Russia want to include China in the process of deciding security guarantees for Ukraine?
– It is a rather expected game of Russians to extend conversations and blur the essence of bilateral agreements from Alaska – believes Radosław Pyffel, an expert on international policy and geopolitics. “Putin wants to” divorce “the process of approaching American-Russian positions, which has been initiated in Alaska,” he adds in an interview with Onet.
“Trump may feel disappointed”
The conversation in Alaska between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin took place last week. It lasted over three hours. However, it was not possible to achieve a breakthrough regarding the war in Ukraine. Trump did not even get from Putin a promise of a temporary truce. According to the Russian analyst Konstantin Eggert, the winner of these conversations was undoubtedly Putin, who due to the meeting with Trump “broke free from his international isolation.”
Commenting on the Lavrov requests described above regarding the inclusion of China in the security guarantee process, Pyffel says: – Trump, which was counting on personal relationships with Putin, may feel disappointed.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska, August 15, 2025
– In fact, the Russian proposal boils down to a change in the format, so that the UN Security Council is a guarantee of peaceful resolutions. Why does the Russians care about it? Because this means that the only power of the UN Security Council, China, explains the only time in conversations – he explains.
Pyffel has no doubt that “Russia is looking for an excuse to extend peace conversations, because it hopes that another player will take place.” China is this next player.
According to the analyst, Russia wants the UN Security Council to decide on the peace process in Ukraine. It reminds that only a few countries (including Russia and China) have the right to veto the Security Council resolution there.
Donald Trump, who praised the last meetings with Putin, and then with Zelanski and European leaders as a success, said on Monday that Ukraine would have “NATO protection similar to Article 5”but he did not reveal any details. On the other hand, he also promised that an American soldier would not put his foot on Ukrainian land.
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