Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov claimed that the war against Ukraine could allegedly have ended a year ago, had the United States not departed from the approaches discussed during the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Anchorage in August 2025. According to Lavrov, European countries allegedly persuaded Washington to abandon these agreements. At the same time, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously stated explicitly that at the summit in Anchorage no agreement was reached on ending the war — the parties were merely discussing the proposals.
- Lavrov stated that the war could have ended a year ago.
- He accused the US of reneging on the «Anchorage agreements».
- According to him, Washington’s position was influenced by Europe.
- The US stated that no agreement had been reached in Anchorage.
Lavrov accused the US and Europe
Lavrov made the statement on 15 September during a round-table discussion on Russia’s war against Ukraine.
«If the Americans had not backed away from the Anchorage agreements, if Europe had not pulled them away from those agreements, we would have been living without war for a year now,» said the Russian Foreign Minister.
Lavrov described this as an «obvious fact», but did not specify which provisions, in his view, had been finally agreed between Moscow and Washington.
He also reiterated the claim that Russia is allegedly not abandoning negotiations and is prepared to seek «reasonable compromises». At the same time, Moscow has no intention of ceasing hostilities whilst any negotiations are taking place.
The US denied that an agreement had been reached in Anchorage
Moscow’s version of the «Anchorage Agreement» has repeatedly been the subject of public dispute between Russia and the US.
In June, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that no agreement had been reached in Alaska.
According to him, during the meeting between Trump and Putin, a proposal was put forward regarding a possible end of war, but it never materialised into a finalised agreement.
Rubio later explained that the Russian approach discussed in Anchorage had not worked because it was unacceptable to Ukraine. In particular, the talks centred on territorial issues.
The Trump–Putin summit ended without a deal
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met 15 August 2025 at a military base near Anchorage in Alaska.
The talks lasted around three hours. Following them, Trump stated that the parties had made progress on a number of issues, but explicitly pointed out that There is no agreement to end the war. No ceasefire had been declared either.
Putin spoke at the time of a certain «understanding» between the parties, but no specific agreed documents or signed agreements were presented publicly.
In June 2026, even Putin himself admitted that no formal agreements had been reached in Anchorage, although he claimed that the parties had discussed possible ways of bringing the war to an end.
Moscow continues to insist on the «spirit of Anchorage»
Despite Washington’s stance, Russian diplomats continue to use the wording «the spirit of Anchorage» or «the Anchorage Agreement».
Moscow regards last year’s negotiations as the basis for a future settlement and accuses the US and Europe of having departed from the approaches taken at that time.
At the same time, Washington insists that any peace agreement must be acceptable not only to Russia but also to Ukraine. It was precisely Kyiv’s refusal to agree to the proposed territorial terms that was one of the reasons why last year’s format was not continued.
Lavrov’s latest statement thus reflects the Russian version of events surrounding the Anchorage summit, whilst the US side publicly denies that any agreement to end the war was reached at that time.
