Ukraine the one holding up peace deal – and Macron and Scholz know it, says Sergei Lavrov

Russia accused Ukraine of preventing peace talks by making “unrealistic” demands on Moscow on Tuesday and called on the West to “discipline” Volodymr Zelensky.

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said “all problems are with the Ukrainian side” after President Zelensky said talks were out of the question while Vladmir Putin remained in power.

Mr Lavrov claimed Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz, the leaders of France and Germany, were “well aware” Kyiv was hindering talks.

He made the incendiary claims at the G20 summit in Indonesia, which Putin skipped after a string of battlefield defeats, including the recent liberation of Kherson.

"We want to see concrete evidence that the West is seriously interested in disciplining Zelensky and explaining to him that this cannot continue, that this is not in the interests of the Ukrainian people," the foreign minister added.

"All problems are with the Ukrainian side, which is categorically refusing negotiations and putting forward conditions that are obviously unrealistic," Mr Lavrov told reporters after meeting the French president and German chancellor.

"Scholz and Macron are well aware that this process is hindered by Ukraine, which, including through laws, by Zelensky's decree, bans negotiations with the Russian Federation," Mr Lavrov said.

Concerns Zelensky has set bar too high

Paris and Berlin insist any peace talks must be made on Ukraine’s terms and with its consent.

There are concerns that Mr Zelensky may have set the bar too high after reports the US had put Ukraine under pressure to be more realistic about the conditions for talks, which Washington has denied.

President Zelensky has recently stopped mentioning that Putin has to be toppled before peace talks can begin.

He has also previously called for the return of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014 by Russia, but did not mention that explicitly in his address to the G20.

Speaking by video-link, he called for a full Russian withdrawal from occupied territories, the release of Ukrainian prisoners and the acknowledgement of Ukraine's territorial integrity.

The Ukrainian leader said there would be no let-up in Ukraine's military campaign to drive Russia out of his country.

"We will not allow Russia to wait it out, build up its forces, and then start a new series of terror and global destabilisation," he said.