Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Wednesday that peace negotiations with Ukraine have been stalled since the August Alaska summit, where President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin made commitments to cooling the conflict in Eastern Europe. 

“We have to acknowledge that the strong momentum created in Anchorage toward reaching agreements has been largely exhausted due to the efforts of opponents … primarily Europeans,” the senior Russian diplomat said while addressing the State Duma, according to The Kyiv Independent. 

Ryabkov shared the dismal outlook after a series of Russian drones entered NATO airspace in Romania and Poland recently. 

The Kremlin’s breach of the countries’ borders raised security concerns among heads of state who have speculated about Putin’s attempts to expand the war in Ukraine into parts of Europe. 

“We do not want to see a continuation of this dangerous pattern by Russia,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said of the incursions in late September. 

He later echoed remarks from President Trump urging nations to shoot down aircraft that cross into their airspace. 

The statements follow the White House’s decision to mull supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine while seemingly overlooking Putin’s request to extend the limits laid out in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

The gestures have been ill-received by Russian counterparts.

Putin said last week the U.S. potentially sending Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine will indicate a “qualitatively new stage of escalation, including in relations between Russia and the U.S.”

“It will certainly not change the balance of force on the battlefield,” he added later at the event, The Associated Press reported.

Prior to Putin’s comments, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the country does not plan to expand their war against Ukraine into other parts of Europe. 

“Russia has never had and does not have any such intentions” of attacking European or NATO countries, he said last month. “However, any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response. There should be no doubt about this among those in NATO and the EU.”

, 2025-10-08 18:46:00, , TheHill.com Just In, %%https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/cropped-favicon-512px-1.png?w=32, https://thehill.com/homenews/feed/, Ashleigh Fields