Lavrov: Russia Will Not Make Any Political Concessions

• 20.10.2026, 21:27

The Russian Foreign Minister made this statement ahead of Whitcoff's trip to St. Petersburg.

Russia will soon organize a meeting between Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and U.S. President’s Special Representative Steve Whitcoff. However, Moscow does not intend to make any political concessions, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

He was quoted by the propaganda agency RIA Novosti.

He stated that Moscow is ready to restore relations with the West, but “things will never be the same as they were before 2022.”

Furthermore, the Kremlin does not expect significant changes in the sanctions policy of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, Lavrov asserted.

Earlier, following talks in Norway, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that Trump’s special envoy Steve Whitcoff will hand over to the Russian side a document outlining various options for security guarantees for Ukraine.

According to the president, the parties discussed various proposals: NATO, Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which provides for collective defense, as well as guarantees modeled after Article 5. All of these options are outlined in the document. Kyiv expects Moscow’s response in just two days.

On October 20, Zelenskyy arrived in Norway and met with Whitcoff, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gar Støre, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.