Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov says Moscow on track to sign a Ukraine peace deal

by · UPI

April 25 (UPI) -- Russian Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov said the Kremlin was "ready to reach a deal" to end the war with Ukraine.

Lavrov told CBS News on Thursday in an interview that U.S. President Donald Trump "believes, and I think rightly so, that we are moving in the right direction," adding that Trump's optimism that progress was being made in efforts to settle the Ukraine conflict was founded in fact.

"The statement by the president mentions a deal, and we are ready to reach a deal. But there are still some specific points, elements of this deal, which needs to be fine-tuned," Lavrov said.

"And we are busy with this exact process," he said, explaining that the Russian side was continuing "our contacts with the American side on the situation in Ukraine."

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Lavrov said the chief indicator of that was that Trump was "probably the only leader on Earth who recognized the need to address the root causes of this situation."

Lavrov acknowledged missile strikes on Kyiv on Thursday that killed 12 people and injured 70, but claimed Russian forces would only ever attack legitimate military targets or civilian sites used by the Ukrainian military.

His comments came after Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday that a deal was "very close."

"This next few days is going to be very important. Meetings are taking place right now," Trump said. "I think we're going to make a deal. I think we're getting very close."

Earlier, Trump issued a rare public rebuke to Putin over Thursday's strikes, the largest attack in nine months, posting on his Truth Social platform he was not happy Moscow had launched such a deadly attack when peace talks were at a critical phase.

The developments came as Trump's diplomatic drive to get a peace deal over the line within his first 100 days in office shifted into high gear.

An aircraft with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on board touched down at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport on Friday morning. He is set to sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin for a fourth time in two months to progress peace talks.

Meanwhile, the influential mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, broke ranks with the administration of President Volodymyr Zelensky, telling the BBC that Ukraine should countenance giving up territory, on a temporary basis, in exchange for peace.

However, Zelensky adviser, Serhiy Leshchenko, called Klitschko's statement counterproductive and possibly unconstitutional, stressing that the official position backed talks for a wider cease-fire as a first step toward peace.

"Other politicians should be united around the president, because only he has this mandate from Ukrainian people. Ukraine is a democracy and politicians can make any statement. But it is very important for them not to violate the Ukrainian constitution."