Appeal from Moscow. Sergei Lavrov is back and knocking on Donald Trump's door. Does Putin want to resume talks? “We are ready”
On Tuesday, November 11, the Russian Foreign Minister turned to the Americans with a proposal to start preparations for the summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, which was to be held in Budapest at the end of October. However, it was canceled after the Kremlin refused to accept a ceasefire in Ukraine.
— We are ready to start preparing for the meeting again, together with the Americans, Lavrov said on Tuesday, November 11, in an interview with the Russian media. In his words Budapest remains the preferred meeting point “if and when American colleagues renew their invitation.”
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio admitted that he had not contacted the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry again since his last conversation with Lavrov on October 20. Then he talked by phone with Lavrov about preparing the summit in Budapest. But Rubio recommended that Trump cancel the meetingafter which the US imposed a large package of sanctions on Russia for the first time since the Republican took office in the White House.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin after the US-Russian summit. Anchorage, Alaska, August 15, 2025Drew ANGERER / AFP / AFP
“We talked politely”
Lavrov's statement shows that he still does not understand why the Americans canceled the summit. — We talked very nicely and politely, without any interruptions. We have, in principle, confirmed actions based on the findings of the Alaska summit. And that's where we ended. And the next step was to be a meeting of representatives of external services, the military – as I understand it, also the intelligence services.
But instead there was a public statement that there was no point in meeting
said Lavrov.
The initial proposals that Russia presented to the US side, according to Lavrov, contained “nothing more than what was discussed in Alaska.”
— The goal was to remind our American colleagues what was discussed during the summit and what agreements were reached there (…) — Lavrov added.
Russian ideas, American silence
The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry also accused the British media of initiating a large-scale information campaign, the purpose of which, he claimed, was to discredit Russia in the eyes of public opinion. According to Lavrov, they were intended to spread false reports that the Kremlin's excessive, “maximalist” demands led to the cancellation of the planned summit with Putin and Trump.
When Lavrov's talks with Rubio ended in failure, the Kremlin sent the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RFPI), Kirill Dmitriev, to Washington. Even before the trip, Dmitriev caused a sensation by announcing his own an eccentric idea to dig a tunnel under the Bering Strait. Such a construction would connect Chukotka with Alaska and become – as he himself said – a “symbol of unity” of Russia and the United States.
However, Dmitriev returned from Washington empty-handed – key Trump administration officials were not present during his visit. And the only person who agreed to meet publicly with Putin's envoy turned out to be a pro-Russian congresswoman.
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Lavrov on the sidelines?
After unsuccessful talks with Marco Rubio, Sergei Lavrov unexpectedly disappeared from the forefront of Russian foreign policy. He didn't even show up at a key Security Council meeting during which Vladimir Putin ordered his advisers and military officials to analyze the possibility of resuming nuclear tests in Russia — a decision of enormous strategic importance. His absence caught the attention of observers because Lavrov had been considered one of Putin's closest associates for years and usually attended such meetings.
Soon afterwards, further signals appeared that his position in the Russian establishment may be weakening. The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lost his traditional status as the head of the delegation at the G20 summit in 2025. Instead, presidential advisor Maxim Oreshkin – an economist and technocrat whose presence at such a high-ranking event may indicate a change in the Kremlin's priorities – is to fly to Brazil.
