Moscow, Aug 24: Russia has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of playing a "game" by demanding a meeting with President Vladimir Putin even as it questioned his "legitimacy" while charging his European backers of seeking to prolong the conflict, unlike US President Donald Trump, who favours a diplomatic solution.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said that his country has no interest in seizing Ukrainian land but wants to protect ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking people from "persecution" by Kiev.

Russia is open to talks with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, given that he is the “de facto head of the regime” in Kiev, but any deals could only be signed by a legitimate representative of Ukraine, Lavrov said in an interview with NBC aired on Sunday, RT reported.

He did not rule out direct talks between President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky, "provided this meeting is really going to decide something", but noted the necessary groundwork for such negotiations is not in place.

Acknowledging that Zelensky is the “de facto head of the regime”, Lavrov said that “the issue of who is going to sign the deal on the Ukrainian side is very serious" and Moscow "would need a very clear understanding by everybody that the person who is signing is legitimate".

Zelensky's presidential term ended more than a year ago, and he has refused to hold a new election, citing martial law, RT reported.

Lavrov also claimed that Zelensky’s calls for a meeting with Putin are “basically a game” and a way to strengthen the Ukrainian leader’s questionable legitimacy.

“A game he is very good (at) because he wants theatrics in everything he is doing. He does not care about substance," he told NBC.

However, he questioned the efficacy of such talks, which would not yield any results, citing cases where Zelensky has directly defied Trump.

"Zelensky said no to everything… He clearly stated that nobody can prohibit him from joining NATO… he publicly stated that he is not going to discuss any territories."

The Russian Minister also accused Ukraine's European allies of wanting the conflict in Ukraine to continue, unlike the US President, "who seems to have genuinely embraced the path of diplomacy".

He noted that the response of several European leaders to the unprecedented summit between Presidents Putin and Trump in Alaska, and also their rhetoric during follow-up talks several days later involving Zelensky, showed that they are still on the warpath.

"The reaction… of these European representatives and what they were doing… indicates that they don’t want peace. They say we cannot allow the defeat of Ukraine. We cannot allow Russia to win," Lavrov told NBC.

Meanwhile, the minister noted that President Trump has opted for an alternative approach, which drew Russia's respect because he was defending "American national interests".

“What… they discuss between themselves is not a secret. We want peace in Ukraine. President Trump wants peace in Ukraine,” Lavrov stressed.

He recalled how Russia and Ukraine came close to a peace agreement early in the conflict during talks in Istanbul, but alleged that then UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several officials from the then Joe Biden administration in the US, the French and the Germans had scuttled it.

In the interview with NBC, Lavrov, asked whether halting Moscow’s military offensive was the only concession it was prepared to make, said: "We don’t have any interest in territories. We have the biggest territory on Earth."

"What we are concerned about… is the people who live on those lands, whose ancestors lived there for centuries."

Lavrov said Moscow’s goal is "to remove any security threats to Russia coming from Ukrainian territory” as well as “to protect the rights of the ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking people who believe they belong to Russian culture and Russian history".

Incidentally, Zelensky on Sunday rejected US calls to withdraw its claim to Crimea or make any territorial concessions to Russia.

In a speech marking Ukraine’s Independence Day, he vowed to retake the peninsula, as well as reclaim the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, which, along with Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, were incorporated into Russia in 2022.

“Here at the zero kilometre, this is a starting point where distances to Ukrainian cities are marked – to our Donetsk, our Lugansk, our Crimea,” Zelensky said in an address filmed at the Maidan Square, the site of the 2014 coup.

"All of this is Ukraine… and no temporary occupation can change that. One day… we will be together again as one country. It’s only a matter of time," he said.

While mediating peace efforts between Moscow and Kiev, President Trump had floated the idea of “land swaps,” but firmly stated that Kiev will not regain Crimea, calling that scenario "impossible".

Territory was reportedly on the agenda at talks between Trump, Zelensky, and select EU leaders earlier this week following the Alaska summit, but the Ukrainian leader reportedly rejected proposals to cede territory.

"Ukraine will never again in history be forced to bear the shame that the Russians call ‘a compromise’," he said on Sunday.

(IANS)

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