It is wrong to say that Russia is not willing to make concessions, the country's top diplomat stated

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rebuked CBS host in an interview on Sunday repeating that Moscow is ready to seek a "balance of interests" both with Ukraine and with the US. The network's journalist Margaret Brennan has said that she haven't heard from the top diplomat that Moscow "is willing to make any concession on anything to date."

"No, my brief answer is you are wrong," Lavrov told Brennan. 

"I have been emphasizing repeatedly, in relation to Ukraine, in relation to strategic relations with the United States, I have been emphasizing our readiness to seek balance of interests. If- if this is not what your station considers readiness for negotiations, then I don't know how to be even less eloquent in trying to be brief in my answers," he added.

Lavrov confirmed that Russia is continuing contacts with Washington regarding Ukraine and welcomed US President Donald Trump's efforts to mediate. 

"There are several signs that we are moving in the right direction," Lavrov said. He emphasized that Russia demands guarantees that any ceasefire "would not be used again to beef up Ukrainian military" and that arms supplies to Ukraine should stop.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held lengthy talks on Friday with US special envoy Steve Witkoff at the Kremlin. Presidential adviser Yury Ushakov described the meeting as "constructive and very useful," adding that the discussion touched on the idea of resuming direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev.

Trump, commenting on the state of the negotiations, said Ukraine and Russia "should now meet, at very high levels, to 'finish it off.' Most of the major points are agreed to."

In the interview, Lavrov reiterated Russia's position on Crimea, stating, "Russia does not negotiate [over] its own territory," and praised President Trump for acknowledging the peninsula's status. 

Crimea "will stay with Russia" in any peace deal, Trump told Time Magazine in an article published on Friday. He said that even Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky understands this. "It's been with them [Russia] for a long time," the US president stated, noting that Russia had its submarines there "long before any period that we're talking about" and that the majority of Crimeans speak Russian.

Russian officials have repeatedly said that Moscow is open to a negotiated solution, but have emphasized that any agreement must reflect the territorial realities on the ground and address the root causes of the conflict.