Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said attempts to resolve security issues relating to Ukraine without Moscow’s participation are a “road to nowhere”.

Mr Lavrov, a key aide to Vladimir Putin, was speaking at a joint press conference in Jordan yesterday, where he pointedly made no reference to Donald Trump’s public calls for a summit between Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.

He criticised talks about future security guarantees for Ukraine that were let by European leaders this week, calling them “rather clumsy” and “unethical” and adding: “We did not hear any constructive ideas from the Europeans there.”

“We cannot agree with the fact that now it is proposed to resolve questions of security, collective security, without the Russian Federation. This will not work,” he said.

“I am sure that in the West and above all in the United States they understand perfectly well that seriously discussing security issues without the Russian Federation is a utopia, it’s a road to nowhere.”

Lavrov added that Russia believed security guarantees should be ensured on an equal basis with the participation of countries such as China, the United States, Britain and France, a Russian news agency said.

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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff says Ukraine is working on a plan with its allies if Russia prolongs the war or disrupts agreements on leaders’ meetings.

Andrii Yermak said the allies had already begun active work on a military component of security guarantees for his country.

The head of Britain’s armed forces has met with his Nato counterparts as Europe continues to push for security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin met senior US defence officials alongside other European military chiefs in Washington DC on Wednesday to discuss military options to secure peace in Ukraine.

He later attended a virtual meeting of Nato’s military committee, described by its chairman Italian Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone as “candid”.

On Tuesday evening, Admiral Radakin, the chief of the defence staff, had dined with his US counterpart General Dan Caine.

A small group of military leaders is talking to Washington about options for security guarantees for Ukraine, a Western official has said, shortly after a bigger virtual meeting ended.

The source said US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was holding the talks that also involved around half a dozen other Nato chiefs of defence.

The official said they expected further meetings of the chiefs of defence in a broader format to be called, to discuss any options worked out in the smaller group.

No time frame has been set as the final decision will lie with political leaders, the official said.