Zelensky Knows Peace Deal Would End Him, Lavrov Says

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is currently in the Gulf region. On Sunday he visited Bahrain, which was hit frequently by Iranian drone and missile attacks earlier in the US-Iran war.

On Monday, the top Russian diplomat is meeting with senior Iranian officials in Tehran, where top of the agenda is the ongoing conflict with the US as well Iran-Russia relations. This marks Lavrov’s first visit to the Islamic Republic since February 2025, and so is very significant. But he also issued stern comments related to Russia’s own ‘special military operation’.

In Bahrain, Lavrov gave some remarks before a press conference in which some interesting things were said about the Ukraine war. He reiterated the familiar Kremlin refrain that the Zelensky government and its backers are not actually interested in peace, and are actually trying to derail Trump-led efforts.

That’s when he said that Ukrainian President Zelensky knows that a comprehensive peace deal with Moscow would spell the end of his regime, according to Russian state media.

“It is obvious that Zelensky has no desire to even move toward reaching agreements,” Lavrov said.

“Presumably, this is because he understands that any agreement acceptable to both Russia and the US would spell the end of his regime – and his own personal end as well,“ he emphasized.

He further lambasted EU leaders for encouraging Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, even as Washington tries to impose a ban on these to stave off a deepening global diesel crisis.

“I am confident that decisions will be made there [at the meeting of gas-exporting countries to be held in Moscow on October 28-29] aimed at stabilizing global markets, rather than collapsing these markets in order to save Zelensky’s regime, which is what our European colleagues are currently doing, including by encouraging the aforementioned strikes on civilian infrastructure,” Lavrov added.

Days prior to the Gulf visit, Lavrov said: “Zelensky is not interested in holding elections in Ukraine, he ‘made it very clear’.” The foreign ministers added: “He has fenced it with terms that are unacceptable for us.”

NEW: Volodymyr Zelenskyy Bloomberg interview by @DarynaKrasno and our Kyiv team + Says Trump is pushing Ukraine to capitulate to Russia. “I believe steps have been taken to convince Ukraine to capitulate” + Says he’s offered to stop striking Russian oil refineries if the US provides Patriot air defences. “My latest model was: We don’t target Russian diesel, you give us missiles for Patriot systems to protect our facilities” + Says the US is threatening to cut off support if Ukraine doesn’t stop its refinery strikes. “They just want us to stop attacking diesel. And if we strike that, they will disconnect us from something” + Says the US is slowing deliveries of Patriots already paid for via the PURL scheme. “We have paid for the weapons. A part of the supplies has been authorized, while the rest haven’t been. And this is not a technical issue” + Says he thinks the US situation may improve after the mid-terms. “Politics is very aggressive during election time. I think it is agony now, but after elections, life will continue and I believe it will be calmer” https://t.co/CQTndkgUIu

— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) October 18, 2026

As for the comments on the ‘end’ of Zelensky’s rule, many independent observers have in the past noted that if Zelensky were to make significant territorial compromises with Russia, hardline right elements within Ukraine’s security establishment could overthrow him (or worse, assassinate him).

President Trump is meanwhile calling on Kiev to urgently hold elections, coupling this with serious cuts to what Washington has been supplying over prior years, especially intelligence-sharing. Trump has also just signed a major sanctions waiver for Russia, coming on the heals of the diesel deal he did with Putin.