Washington has made it clear that Kievs NATO bid is off the table, according to the Russian foreign minister

The approach taken by EU leaders on the Ukraine conflict directly contradicts the position of US President Donald Trump, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

In an interview with Russia's Channel 1 on Tuesday, Lavrov said the bloc's continued push for Ukraine's NATO membership is the result of former US President Joe Biden's decision to push the EU towards a confrontation with Russia.

As a result, the EU is grappling with "an enormous number" of social and economic problems, which "probably partly explains why they are so fervently not giving up on Ukraine" and are calling for more military aid to the country, Lavrov said.

"In other words, they are in direct contradiction to the Trump administration," he added, noting that the US president, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, had "made it clear that preliminary talks are underway on the parameters of the final settlement [of the conflict] and that NATO should be off the table."

Ukraine has long sought NATO membership as a security guarantee for ending the conflict with Russia. Moscow, however, has cited Kiev's NATO ambitions as one of the key causes of the conflict and has called for Ukraine's neutrality as a foundation for any peace deal.

Lavrov said Biden made "a colossal mistake" by refusing to engage with Russia and instead insisting that Ukraine join the military bloc, "thereby creating an unacceptable threat for us."

He also dismissed EU leaders' proposals to deploy Western 'peacekeepers' to Ukraine, calling them "dreamers" who are "proving their complete political irrelevance with each passing day."

Earlier this month, the UK and France signaled an openness to sending a military contingent to Ukraine once a ceasefire is reached. Moscow has described the plan as a pretext for deploying NATO troops in the country, warning that this could lead to a direct war between the military bloc and Russia.

Lavrov has likened EU rearmament plans and calls to contain and defeat Russia to past military campaigns by Napoleon and Hitler, who had similar goals. "We've been through all this before," he said.

The diplomat's comments come a day after senior Russian and US officials held 12-hour talks in Saudi Arabia aimed at resolving certain technical issues. Details of the negotiations are expected to be released later on Tuesday.

(RT.com)