Moscow sidelines Lavrov as Kremlin leans on Dmitriev for Ukraine talks
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been largely sidelined from negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine, with Kirill Dmitriev and Yuri Ushakov taking the lead in Moscow's outreach to Washington. Lavrov's hardline stance and public statements have clashed with other channels, including a collapsed Budapest summit triggered by a Lavrov-Rubio call. Washington says it engages with multiple Russian interlocutors, and Kyiv officials see little point in talking to Lavrov directly as Moscow relies on other figures to shape policy and diplomacy.
