NBC's "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker pressed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov repeatedly Sunday on whether he acknowledged Russia had invaded Ukraine, as Lavrov accused the NBC host of wanting something to "sell" during her show.
"Did Russia invade Ukraine, Mr. Foreign Minister? Did Russia invade Ukraine?" Welker asked Lavrov.
Welker also pressed Lavrov whether he believed Ukraine had a right to exist, before she pushed the Russian foreign minister to acknowledge that Russia had invaded Ukraine.
"Russia started [a] special military operation to defend the people who [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy and his predecessor did not consider as humans," Lavrov said. "They called them being suspicious. You should, look, you should really - I understand that you need something to sell today - but if you are raising and touching up on such serious things, my suggestion is to take a look at the history of Ukrainian development after the coup in 2014."
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Welker noted it was a yes-or-no question and asked again, "Do you acknowledge Russia invaded Ukraine?"
"I said to you that we started special military operations," Lavrov replied. "To protect the people whom the regime declared terrorists and enemies and whom the regime was bombing."
Welker then asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted peace, to which Lavrov responded, "Yes."
The NBC host also asked what he would say to U.S. lawmakers who believe Russia is stringing along President Donald Trump.
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"It is not for the lawmakers or for any media outlets to decide, you know, what President Trump is motivated by," Lavrov said. "We respect President Trump because President Trump defends American national interests, and they have reason to believe that President Trump respects President Putin because he defends Russian national interests, and whatever they discuss between themselves is not the secret. We want peace in Ukraine. He wants, President Trump wants, peace in Ukraine. The reaction to Anchorage meeting, the gathering in Washington of these European representatives, and what they were doing after Washington, indicates that they don't want peace," he said.
Trump met with Zelenskyy and other European leaders at the White House earlier this week, just days after meeting with Putin in Alaska, and said he has roughly two weeks to determine how the U.S. will proceed in the ongoing negotiations.
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Trump told reporters on Friday that he would have a better sense of whether a deal that ends the conflict is feasible and what kind of actions the U.S. should take moving forward on negotiations in the coming weeks.
"We'll see what happens. I think over the next two weeks, we're going to find out which way it's going to go," Trump said.
"It's going to be a very important decision," Trump said. "And that's whether or not it's massive sanctions or massive tariffs, or both. Or do we do nothing and say, 'It's your fight'?"
